Good Food Ends With Good Talk

Teochew Porridge

2010-05-18T22:28:00.002+08:00

I love Teochew Porridge. Before Richard and I were married, we used to go Bukit Gombak for Teochew Porridge. Sometimes, we ate with my brother and sometimes with his friends. During those days, the Teochew Porridge there, at this stretch of road at Bukit Gombak was so popular. You will see cars parked along the road to have supper here.

Gone were those days with nice Teochew Porridge being served. I missed the steam Sotong/squid and the steam Pomfret. I think this two were the best dishes being served there.

Two to three years back, I went back to this place to eat Teochew Porridge -- to find or gain back the beautiful memories and savour the taste of delicious Teochew Porridge...

I could not find the same old dishes that were being served. But still, the dishes looked 'not bad'. We ordered and we tried the food still. In the slideshow below, you can find photographs of the food which we had ordered. The whole family went for meal/dinner here (No Isaac then). The stall was called "Mix Vegetable Rice Stall" (Mixed Veg Rice to be exact) and not Teochew Porridge.

Photographs of Porridge with various accompanying dishes bought at Teochew Porridge Stall

These slideshow shows photographs of The Oasis Coffeeshop, showing some of the stalls there -- Look at the Mixed Veg Rice stall which I had bought the Teochew Porridge... and also a photograph which shows the table displayed with all the dishes.

These photographs were taken on 12 September 2008 -- The Oasis Coffee Shop...

A Satisfying Meal

2008-10-02T15:52:00.000+08:00

Satay Bee Hoon with Cuttlefish, Kang Kong and "tau pok"

Wow, it was Satay Bee Hoon I had at Kou Fu, Toa Payoh. I had been craving for Satay Bee Hoon for so long... and was so glad to see it at Toa Payoh Kou Fu. We went there for dinner after my visit to C.H Koh Clinic For Women. It was not bad, but something missing... no cockles!!! I love cockles and am craving for cockles!

Ever since I am pregnant, I have become a 'hungry ghost'. The person who makes me pregnant was not 'convinced' that I am pregnant -- but only accept the fact when he really sees the heartbeat of the baby on 30th September 2008.

Eat, eat and eat. Everyday I am thinking only of eating....terrible feeling... my stomach hurts... I am 'stomachally' tired, mentally alright, but stomach alone affects my overall well-being! My whole body is not in synchronization... the norm is disrupted. Richard said that such a small thing can control my whole body! Yes, all my babies... none of my pregnancies are enjoyable, but all suffering -- and lying on the bed all day long.... terrible terrible, really 'possessed', not my usual self now.

The best meal I had so far was on the 26th September 2008, really a sumptuous and fulfilling meal....

26th September 2008: Roasted Duck

Intend to write about this great feeling on that day, but later on, too tired, and was not able to do so...

On this day, I was craving for this roasted duck which my brother had given me previously. It was so nice! So I called him, to ask where I can buy the duck. He told me Jurong West or Ubi... that was very far. So coincidentally, he was at Ubi and he said he could buy for me and so I was being so lucky!!!!

Closer-look at Delicious Roasted Duck

At the time when I got hold of the duck, I cannot wait to eat it already! Dinner and supper, I had the roasted duck, eat with rice and green vegetable. The whole duck was consumed the night, all meat eaten up, my stomach so full, but still very uncomfortable....

Juicy and fragrant 'salty' roasted duck

This is supper time roasted duck. This is the best part of the duck, juicy, soft and very fragrant.

Mango dessert

Bought this mango at Pasar Malam, 4 for S$8 at Woodlands. The mangoes are very sweet. This is my first time buying mangoes myself... I usually will not buy mangoes -- always given to me by my mother or brother. But now, I have to eat...

Heart Debt
He said,"I am trying to earn all the money, but she is trying to spend all the money." We are full of debts.... money debts and heart debts.

During my first pregnancy, my big brother bought me pomfret porridge from Newton. It was so delicious. My big brother is always so good to me. He cares for the family and helped me. So do my parents. My second brother supported me when I was working and offered help when I needed too. I have the best brothers. This time, my brother bought this Roasted Duck for me also refused to accept money from me. I really feel so 'indebted'.... all the years that we had grown up together, learning from him.... these are all the beautiful memories.......

Delicious Si Chuan Food

2008-09-15T22:48:00.000+08:00

This is food from Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant, located at UOB Plaza, Raffles Place. I went there one year ago, and this year, Mooncake Festival, I was thinking of it....

Great Food, Great Restaurant, Must Go, Must Try.

I love scallops and this is scallops with asparagus. The scallops are fresh and the food tasted not too salty but just nice. Good, Delicious! My favourite dish.

This is the sweet and sour pork. I don't like pork and this is something I did not try...... but looks nice.

Forgotten what is this, but looks like soft-shelled crabs...

Fried long beans, Deer meat, and Ee-Fu Mee. Everything nice. But I did not eat the deer meat...

This roasted chicken looks nice and tasted really nice also. It makes me salivate now even!

This is Steam Sea Bass, very fragrant, fresh, no fishy smell at all. Superb food for all, no room for complaints, but satisfaction only.

Home-cooked Chicken Burger

2008-08-09T00:06:00.000+08:00

Fried potatoes: This is potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces (so that it would be easier to e cooked). It was coated with flour/seasoning before frying. After that it was put into heated oil to deep fried until golden brown.

Fried Onions: This is a big onion, peeled and cut into slices. Then it is sprinkled with some salt and put to fry until it is soft and cooked (cannot cook too long otherwise it become too soft, and not nice).

Fried chicken burger: fried scrambled eggs, and next cut the bread up into two pieces so that eggs, onions and chicken can be put into the bread. Our family do not eat tartar sauce or mayonnaise. So there is strictly no sauce at all here.

Eaten without bread is just as nice, with fried potatoes, onions, eggs and the chicken burger. The onions tasted so sweet. This is savouring the natural sweetness of the onions, hmm... delicious, I like... a heartening meal!

Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

2008-07-02T21:29:00.001+08:00

This is the Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice stall which we frequent very often, almost every weekends. However, I began to get 'scared' of it, and decide for the time being (see how everything goes), NOT to buy from them anymore.

These were taken some time back, to be precise, on 6th April 2008. Ever since then, the service and the quality of the chicken had not been very good. There was inconsistency too -- sometimes they charged $12 (one time), sometimes $15 and sometimes $14 and some other times other price.

One day, we decide to ask the normal guy which we often see (the one who look like the owner, one of the partners perhaps, the honest one). He told us the price is $14 (for four person -- four plates of rice and one big plate of roasted chicken breasts).

Reasons:

1. No standard price - as mentioned above.
2. Dishonesty - as with the price in particular. There were times when I trained my children to buy from them. The dishonest Chinese woman (tied hair, long hair woman, China) was very dishonest, always. I observed that whenever she took orders from my children, the chicken rice which bought home were very 'lousy' -- sometimes black, and there was once, only two small piece of chicken in the packet of chicken rice, with lots of cucumber. Both my children had no appetite to eat, with such kind of food. I was so angry, and that was the limit and the last I asked my children to order from them. They cannot be trusted.

Yet, I still buy chicken rice from them. On the following week, I complained to them, whoever present. The 'regular' accepted my explanation, apologised and pay me back the money. That day, we again bought chicken rice from them. But from that day, the children did not order from them.

3. Food Not cooked thoroughly - As mentioned above, I always ordered chicken breasts and rice from them. What we ordered is always standard. However, nowadays, their standard were really getting inconsistent and going 'lousy'. I asked Richard,"Is our standard getting higher or their standard getting poor?" Anyway, it is very obvious. The chicken was not cooked thoroughly, bloody everywhere, most pieces of chicken. First, one or two pieces. Next, getting more and more pieces and then the next time, the pictures below, that was the real limit and the last.

Four person, four rice and one plate of chicken breast cost $14. That day (Richard's bicycle front wheel was spoiled), Clara went for camp, and there were only the three of us left to eat Chicken Rice. Richard went to order as usual. However, when the food came, it looked different. The person asked for $13.50. Richard asked why, and the 'China-looking' guy said,"give you more food". Well, I don't want to argue more, just a few dollar difference. BUT, I saw the chicken, different, and I ate, NOT CHICKEN BREAST, and that was ENOUGH. I brought the whole plate to them. I told the 'regular' guy,"I always buy from you. I asked for Chicken breast and you give me what meat? You think I cannot tell? You even charged more! 4 person $14, 3 person also so expensive, $13.50. I never complained and pay you still, yet you do this kind of thing, so dishonest." The 'regular' guy said to the 'china-looking guy',"See, I tell you already, See, tell you already!" Then he said,"nevermind, we changed for you."

I walked back to my seat. Minutes later, they brought the plate back. This time, chicken breasts, but no Achar and no tomatoes, and little cucumber. The plate also reduced, become small plate. I went to them, asked them for more Achar. But I was still not satisfied. The food was not normal, even Richard felt that. It tasted like overnight chicken -- and that explains why so much chicken was uncooked, so that they can boil again and again when there are left overs. (that was my prediction, and Richard's too. At first I was not too sure, but later, I saw that the coffee shop, S 11 was 24 hours, and I was rather sure, and confirm sure, the chicken they served us was indeed not fresh. Even the soy sauce was so diluted and not any fragrant nor smelled nice. First time, this chicken rice taste horrible and that was enough.

And we really did not eat their chicken rice last weekend. The 'china woman' looked at us while we stood there ordered Duck rice. Richard said,"There is no Bao Jia (guarantee 'eatable') one." We were too nice to them already, but they had gone overboard, and for that they will lost their customers. If they treasured their customers, even for ONE customer they valued, I would change my mind about them.

Holland Village Katong Laksa

2008-06-23T16:52:00.004+08:00

Never get to eat some good food here, but get to see this windmill, have this Holland Village Windmill as 'souvenir', still not as bad...

Went to Holland Village, and was looking for the usual Hong Kong Noodle shop where I used to eat with my friends. But everything changed, and I do not know what is the name of the shop already. We walked down the lane and saw this shop below, selling Katong Laksa, which sound nice and looked nice....

This is the shop at Holland Village, selling Katong Laksa and Nasi Lemak. Written there, in chinese, 山, (San = mountain).

Thought the food would be good, but...

The Bee Hoon, was hard (not as soft as the best one I had eaten). The Laksa gravy/soup was not fragrant, don't smell nice, don't taste good also. More salty than nice. Rating of one star for overall. Self-service some more. Give one star already too nice for them. The only thing which is 'nice' and really 'original' is the HUM/cockle. But this 'imitation' Katong Laksa is better than another 'Imitation' Katong Laksa I tried at Woodlands 888 Plaza. That one is EVEN WORST than this.

Saw their otar placed there. Asked whether they were hot a not. The woman answered,"Yes". I touched, it was slightly warm only -- the type of warm which probably inside also not that warm. But fine, let's try....

The otar was cold. The inside, not nice also. I asked Richard,"How's your Nasi Lemak?" Looked terrible also. He never mentioned NICE. Neither does it looked good. To know the food, I tried the egg. The egg was VERY HARD. Egg also fried until like that -- don't need to try other thing anymore.

This is worst than Woodlands Nasi Lemak.

So disappointed with what we ate. Wasted my money too. The waitress, Chinese, not local (CN), made me so angry. Food not nice, plus 'lousy' service waitress, that really wasted all my money, totally not worth eating at that shop.

Woodlands 888 Plaza Katong Laksa

2008-06-22T14:31:00.000+08:00

After we had finished eating the 'imitation' Katong Laksa, we walked around and saw the Food Centre -- Holland Village Market and Food Centre. It looked so new and clean. What a regret! Should have tried the food here first! There were plenty of other food here, got my favourite Fried Carrot cakes, oysters, fruit juice and so many more...

Holland Village Katong Laksa

Ricsson and I saw this again -- Another Katong Laksa and Nasi Lemak -- selling the same things, with otar too. I looked around to see anyone eating the Laksa, but none. I wonder how real is this Katong Laksa.

Katong Laksa, sold from this stall at Woodlands 888 Plaza 24 hours coffee shop, just beside NTUC Fairprice -- Was Tricked By THE NAME

This was the worst Woodlands(Woodlands 888 Plaza) Katong Laksa I had eaten on 15th December 2007. Laksa sold in the school taste better than this!

Authentic American Food

2008-06-15T23:02:00.000+08:00

If you give BOTAK JONES® a try, you really can’t lose. Our guarantee ensures that if you aren’t happy with the food, we’ll make you another or we’ll make you something else or we’ll refund your purchase.

“No one goes out to have a bad time.” BOTAK JONES®

I am going to try next time if similar things happened. As a very regular customer of Botak Jones (as what the waitress claimed as well) and for that, today we got an extra gift for Happy Father's Day for Richard.

Almost every week, after church, we would go Botak Jones to eat our dinner, though not 100% but almost 80% or 70%. Lately, I must comment on them already, after 'numerous' attempts and eating at their stall.

Fish Burger: Photo taken on 13th June 2008, Friday. Sunday, 15th June 2008, Clara ate the same food, she showed me the 'internal' of the fish fillet. It was 'pinkish' -- it was cooked, but based on my experience, and after eating, it was not fresh at all.

This was the day on Friday 13th June 2008, we asked for Mexican rice side dish and fries. But NO MEXICAN RICE, and ONE SIDE DISH LACKING. The waitor kept quiet about MEXICAN RICE, never mentioned any thing about it. I ASKED THEM, then they said, "NO MORE MEXICAN RICE".

Grilled Salmon: This is very good, very delicious. The smell of the grilled skin 'transmitted' into the fish, the sauce was very fragrant, with garlic and together with tomatoes and lemon, it was real tasty. But small portion, not full. But cannot ask for more lar, since Salmon is expensive and this is Kopitiam.

Won't die, but my concern...
Richard and Clara always eat Fish & Chips. Ricsson and Me always eat the Cajun Chicken. On Friday, I ate Salmon, always like Salmon, but expensive. Always eat at Botak Jones and their side dish is always coleslaw or actually 'raw cabbage with carrots'. None of the family members like to eat them. Neither do I, but in order not to waste, and also there is no other vegetables, I ate them with the main dish. However, lately, they introduced varieties to the side dish -- there are various options to the side dish that you would want to have for your main dish. I thought that was very good. Initially, there was brocolli. I was so delighted. However, I NEVER get to eat ANY so far. Always told 'Finish already'. Fine, next they have corn next. We ordered corn instead of the salad/coleslaw. But guess what, the waitor/waitress gave the wrong order. All the dish that came were with fries and salads side dish. NO corn at all. IN ADDITION, Ricsson's chicken, we always asked for NO SPICY sauce, but in the end, ALWAYS nowadays, they always give with sauce! And I always REJECT them -- Can you imagine, we already 'told' them at the ordering station, and they 'key-in' the orders, and yet similar things like that keep happening.

No Fate ...
Wrong side dish given, and in the end, ONE TIME only, we get to EAT CORN -- ONE FORTUNATE occasion. On Friday, I saw NEW SIDE DISHES, now got new dish even. There was Black Pepper Chicken and I saw Salmon, just the word 'Salmon'. So I asked what kind of Salmon, "Grilled or what?" Was told it would be grilled and I ordered Salmon. The rest of them ordered the same thing. Since there was a choice to the side dish, AGAIN, we asked for NO SALAD, since nobody eat salad. The side dish consists of Mexican rice, corn, fries and salad. This time, we asked for three mexican rice and corn, but was told NO CORN, and so salad.

WOW Curious, Very Curious....
When the food was served, no mexican rice, all the dishes being served was SALAD. I was puzzled, asked the waitor, and was TOLD, NO MORE MEXICAN RICE WHEN the food was being served (when the food arrived at our table).

TRUST...
Today, we went to Botak Jones again to eat though we did not go to church today. We finished swimming and we cycled purposely there to eat. It was only about Six, at the time I looked at my watch was 6.04pm. So early, and yet STILL NO MORE OTHER SIDE DISH, ONLY SALAD.

HOPE...
Might as well don't write there show customers what side dish we can choose. WE GOT MORE DISAPPOINTMENT IN RETURN. GIVE US HOPE, BUT LOST ALL HOPE.

When Business Is Too Good??
NO photos of what we ate today. Sick of taking the photos also. The salad was NOT FRESH today. Can you imagine, how many customers they have? Salad made in bulk and stored in fridge. EASY TO MAKE, and how many days they keep them in their fridge? I CAN SENSE any DEGREE of SMELL that is not fresh at all. I NEVER EAT ALL THE SALAD TODAY, NEVER NEVER, IT's REAL AND THE TRUTH.

If You have not tasted The Best, You Won't know what Is The BEST
On Friday, Richard tried the big plate of Fish and Chip. He could not finish all. That was the first time he tried the big plate, because he said he wanted to see if it would be more full eating that. So I tried one piece of it, for the first time also. I do not like to eat the Fish and Chip. The fish was little, mostly flour. Compared Salmon with Fish and Chips, the Salmon was far better. Clara showed me once, her fish and chip. The fish was 'red/pink' in colour. It was not fresh at all. I tried, and it does not suit my taste at all. I told her,"you eat so much already how to change?" So she had no choice but to continue eating (not fresh but still edible, but I don't like). Today, again, she showed me the fish from her fish burger meal. It was 'pinkish', and I ate a bite. Same thing. Richard said,"ok lar..." But do you know that Richard does not like to eat fish. At home, I cooked fresh fish, he did not even like to eat. Not fresh things he said nice. Food that are spoiled or not spoiled, he does not even know how to differentiate. Can you imagine what I am trying to say?

Truth Is Truth
I am not trying to spoil their reputation or what. But just my opinion and something really true which I think is not very good. That is OVER-Promising and UNDER-deliver. False HOPE. Disappointment in the end. And worst, the salad today is NOT FRESH (SMELL, smelly)

Cheaper Than Popeyes
I never know can ask for a change, but it is not so nice if we always ask for change if similar things happen like that always. This is my first time I comment about them. First time and also getting 'irritated' by their so called 'service' now.

Service was Okay, but room for improvement
The side dish issue and also the payment issue I am not happy. Everytime waited so long for the food to arrive. When the food arrive, wanted to enjoy the food, so hungry already, BUT the waitor stood there with the yellow paper (bill). Need to pay cash. They don't accept credit card, don't accept nets, any cards. I need to take out my purse, handle paper money. Give them the money, and I had to wait for their change. But their change is not prompt. I need to wait. IF I eat the food, I would be DISRUPTED with the waitor coming with the change. I NEED TO put down my fork and knife, then keep the paper money and coins. Sometimes the paper money is so dirty -- wet, and some coins, BLACK!! Irritating, why can't they give customers more freedom? Customers won't RUN AWAY. Give us time to eat peacefully when the meal comes and pay when we finish our meal, PAY HAPPILY if satisfied with the meal.

Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits

2008-06-14T03:01:00.000+08:00

After a ride of the Singapore Flyer, we went to Popeyes fastfood (Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits) for dinner. Inside the restaurant, you can watch Popeyes cartoon.

Richard bought four pieces of chicken, coleslaw, whipped potatoes and coke. The chicken is better than KFC (more fresh). But the whipped potatoes, coleslaw and the bun was not any better than KFC.

There were prawn fritters too. That was nice. I like seafood, but very little -- if I am not wrong, there were only 3 pieces of prawns. This set of food here cost about S$17.50.

I love Seafood, and this restaurant Seafood Paradise looks so good...

I love Italian food also.... must try next time....

Dumpling(Bak Chang)

2008-06-11T00:53:00.000+08:00

Haven't been blogging for days as my dell computer is spoiled -- charger spoiled and keyboard not working.

Anyway, yesterday I got to eat dumpling(Bak Chang). Miss dumpling so much. Dumpling Festival was on Sunday, but we had no time to eat them as my sister just gave me those dumpling on Sunday night.

Last year, my mother wrapped dumpling, but this year she did not wrap any. She was so busy at work. Luckily, my sister wrapped dumpling this year. So I got to eat them. She was so amazing. She wrapped 71 dumpling! And she ate half of them within one day I think, so incredible!

She gave me these dumpling on Sunday, and yesterday we got to eat them. This is the hot dumpling, just warmed up and taken out from the pot.

These dumplings were smaller than what my mother made, but still better than none. So nice to eat dumplings made by own family members. Dumplings sold outside normally contains so much fatty meat. I don't like to eat pork and won't eat them at all (especially those sold from stalls). But I trust my sister. She doesn't like pork too. But she told me now she eats pork already. These dumplings which she had made, contains pork, mushrooms and chestnuts. The pork/meat were soft and not fatty at all -- very good. So satisfied with the dumpling. Without her, I won't have 'kou fu'.

This is the dumpling she made, she gave me 20 dumplings altogether. We finished all the dumpling yesterday.

Bak Kut Teh

2008-04-22T22:50:00.000+08:00

The Rooster(Richard) Wanted To Eat Pork
This is Bak Kut Teh from Woodlands, Marsiling Court, near the wet market, which I heard from the news is undergoing renovation now. Richard and I went there for lunch on Friday, 28th March 2008 -- those few where it was raining, but on this particular day, it was sunny day, sunny enough for us to cycle to Marsiling Court for Richard's favourite Bak Kut Teh. He had been craving for it for so long.

The Pig Don't Eat her own meat
Bak Kut Teh is means pork ribs/bone soup. Normally in other places, the Bak Kut Teh is rather standard, with pork ribs, few slices of garlic and soup only. However, at Marsiling here, this Bak Kut Teh has more ingredients. There are 'You Tiao', and various pig's organs like liver, stomach and intestines. There are side dishes like preserved vegetables and braised peanuts.

Marry Chicken Follows Chicken, Marry Dog Follows Dog= 嫁鸡随鸡, 嫁狗随狗
For people who do not like to eat pork, like me, but like to eat organs and drink soup, this is just the perfect place. It just suit him, my husband, and me.

Garden of Eden
On this day, we were like Adam and Eve, we were so happy, at this garden of 'ancient' Rain Trees, with beautiful growth of plants nesting on them -- The wild orchids, the ferns and so on. It was such a beautiful piece of land, left vacant here. We were the man and woman of God's creation.

Freshness We seek, Not Flesh we want
It was a day where my bell rang and rang, bringing me back to my childhood days. I had not eaten pig's liver for such a long time. Richard ordered mixed Bak Kut Teh, so there are meat as well as organs in it. There are special techniques when cooking organs, they must not be too cooked nor too raw. That day, I had a good taste of pig's liver and pig's stomach. But of course, they are not the best. The best one is cooked by my mother, FRESH, NO SMELL OF SMELLY PIG TASTE.

God of Love and Care
Anyway, on this day, the serving was great -- First Time. It was not the first time we ate there. Previously we went there, the serving was little, soup was little too. That day, vegetable a lot, ingredients a lot, soup look normal, almost to the rim, but SURPRISINGLY, really SURPRISINGLY, I tell you, the soup, I KEEP DRINKING, but it NEVER runs dry! REALLY!!!! This is the miracle of GOD, the level of soup in the claypot really stays the same, amazing!!!

Water, My Life. Water My Life 我的生命
Soup is what I really need and cannot do without. Without soup, I would not want to eat the Bak Kut Teh. The smell, the taste of the soup is very important, next the freshness of the meat. Towards the end of it, I ate a piece of stomach, Yucks!! I 'pui' (spit) out because they had obviously mixed some frozen or not so fresh stomach in them. I stopped eating after that, with my mouth 'stinking' of 'not fresh' aftertaste of the smelly pork. I almost vomit and felt nauseous.

Serpent In The Garden City
Now that they are undergoing upgrading, it is a good idea, so that we can be served with better environment, better hygiene too. It is really a good place for dining, somewhat similar to the heart of woodlands. It is the first place I went after I regained my new life! And it is this special day that Richard and I saw the green snake, First Time, OUR FIRST TIME...

Trees of knowledge

Having meals in nature, open-space, fresh air (if no one smoke), isn't that wonderful? Isn't that better than dining in food court? Imagine you can watch birds, appreciate the beauty of nature, see flowers, beautiful plants around you, while you eat your food. If there are wild monkeys here, that would even be better. Do you know that at this old woodlands road, there were plenty of monkeys, they are so cute. Isn't it a good place if you would like to have animals, pets and people to have meals together here, that is heavenly paradise, all blending into ONE... That is my dream, fresh air, all people living in peace and harmony with the accompaniment of our beloved animals and plants.

Chinese New Year Cake

2008-02-15T00:52:00.000+08:00

Nian gao, Year cake or Chinese new year's cake is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time because "nian gao" is a homonym for "every year higher and higher." 年糕 - 年高

I like to eat Nian Gao. It is sticky, chewy, taste like Glutinous Rice Ball and "Ang Gu Quay". When I was young, I always got to eat Nian Gao. They are soft and nice when hot. When cold, Nian Gao is very hard.

Today, Valentine's Day, I fried Nian Gao. I prepared the batter first -- mixing self-rising flour with two eggs, water and sugar. After cutting up the Nian Gao, I dipped them into the floor and began frying in the oil. When they were golden-brown, they were ready to be served. They are best eaten hot as it will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

These are pictures of my Fried Nian Gao. I do not know how to make Nian Gao, but my sister knows. This year, I got to take pictures of her Nian Gao because I have camera now. These are Nian Gao she had made.

Wine Savouring

2007-12-20T17:49:00.000+08:00

These are some of my wine collection.

Our body is something very miraculous. What our body needs, we would have graving for it. Last night, I slept very late, after I had seen a very cute dog at BlogLog or BlogCatalog (very confusing). I have two accounts, one at BlogLog and one at BlogCatalog. One of them is my favourite. I was attracted by the dog, not the owner, and I followed 'him' to see who is the master. I was even amazed when I saw the owner's photograph. He looks like his dog! That is why people often say that dogs can look like their owners.

Yesterday I cleaned up some of my photograph albums. Today I have a graving for wine. This is WoodHaven. This is one the red wine which I had bought from NTUC Fairprice a few months back. I had graving for red wine that time. Sometimes I had graving for beer too.

I was feeling very tired today. I walked towards my cupboard and I choose to open D.O.M, Benedictine. I poured the wine into the glass. Nice pungent smell entered my nose. I was felt so refreshed. The more I smell, the more 'shiok' I feel. Standing near the windows, holding the glass of wine, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the nice aroma of the wine. I can sense the 'chi' or the 'chain of energy' entering my nose, going through my nostrils and up my head, giving me sudden 'awakening' feeling. It was so refreshing, the moment the nice strong aroma entered your body. Taking a sip of wine, you can feel the wine entering your throat, down the oesophagus to the stomach. You can feel your body burns. It is all your senses at work. Smell, sense, taste and experience.

Savouring wine is more enjoyable than drinking wine. You may drink wine but not savour wine. You may savour wine, but not drink much. The best is savour and drink to your heart's content. Wine savouring is just like drinking chinese tea. But chinese tea does not 'burn' your body and it does not 'refresh' your mind as much as the wine.

Eating Durian

2007-12-13T18:24:00.000+08:00

The good durian should have a rich aroma, a silky-smooth flesh texture, succulent but firm flesh and a perfect mix of bitter and sweet tastes. The best quality fruit are the pedigree breeds from Malaysia and Thailand, cultivated specifically to obtain the desired taste and quality. Nameless durians, which are not cultivated specifically for quality and taste, cost less and their standard may vary. Some may rival the best, with the same enchanting aroma and voluptuous flesh, while others taste plain bad. For a guaranteed top-notch durian, it is always safer to buy a "branded durian".

Durians mature in 3 -5 months from the time of fruit-set. They are highly perishable. Durians are fully ripe 2 to 4 days after falling and lose eating quality in 5 or 6 days.In rural areas, villagers usually build grass huts nearby at harvest time and camp there for 6 or 8 weeks in order to be ready to collect each fruit as soon as it falls. Caution is necessary when approaching a durian tree during the ripening season, for the falling fruits can cause serious injury. Hunters place traps in the surrounding area because the fallen fruits attract game animals and all kinds of birds. The fruit is also placed as bait for game in the forests.

There are over 80,000 phytonutrients found in durian.

The durian is attractive to a great variety of animals and insects as well as people, including monkeys, gibbons, orangutans, and apes, birds, dogs, pigs, rhinoceros, bears, squirrels, tapirs, deer, elephants, tigers, and even the domestic cat. Durians are sold whole, or cut open and divided into segments, which are wrapped in clear plastic. The flesh is mostly eaten fresh, often out-of-hand. It is best after being well chilled in a refrigerator. Sometimes it is simply boiled with sugar or cooked in coconut water, and it is a popular flavoring for ice cream. Javanese prepare the flesh as a sauce to be served with rice; they also combine the minced flesh with minced onion, salt and diluted vinegar as a kind of relish. Arabian residents prefer to mix the flesh with ice and syrup. In Palembang, the flesh is fermented in earthen pots, sometimes smoked, and eaten as a special side dish.

Durian seeds are believed to possess a toxic property that causes shortness of breath. However, they are eaten after boiling, drying, and frying or roasting. In Java, the seeds may be sliced thin and cooked with sugar as a confection; or dried and fried in coconut oil with spices for serving as a side-dish.

The Medicinal Uses of Durian includes: The flesh is said to serve as a vermifuge. In Malaya, a decoction of the leaves and roots is prescribed as a febrifuge. The leaf juice is applied on the head of a fever patient. The leaves are employed in medicinal baths for people with jaundice. Decoctions of the leaves and fruits are applied to swellings and skin diseases. The ash of the burned rind is taken after childbirth. The leaves probably contain hydroxy-tryptamines and mustard oils. In addition, the odor of the flesh is believed to be linked to indole compounds which are bacteriostatic. Eating durian is alleged to restore the health of ailing humans and animals. The flesh is widely believed to act as an aphrodisiac.

How To Grow Durian

Durian

2007-12-12T17:12:00.000+08:00

Scientific Name for Durian: Durio zibethinus L. (Genus Durio; Family Bombacaceae)

Botanically speaking, the durian fruit is actually a capsule, and the edible sections are technically called arils. Arillate fruits are rare, perhaps 1% of all tropical fruits. Most fleshy fruits are categorized as drupes (like a plum, with a single hard pit) or pomes (like an apple, with accessory flesh around a seedy core) or berries (including common sweet berries as well as grapes and tomatoes). In an arillate fruit, the aril is a fleshy outgrowth of the seed’s own outer covering.

Old tree produce better Quality of Durian.

The durian is believed to be native to Borneo and Sumatra. It is found wild or semi-wild in South Tenasserim, Lower Burma, and around villages in peninsular Malaya, and is commonly cultivated along roads or in orchards from southeastern India and Ceylon to New Guinea. Thailand and South Vietnam are important producers of durians.

Durian Flowers

The durian tree is evergreen that grow about 27-40 m in height and has alternate leaves. The durian flower is strongly fragrant. The flower has 3 petals with 5-lobed, bell-shaped calyx, 2 to 3 inches long and are borne in stalked clusters of 3 to 30 directly from the old, thick branches or trunk. These flower clusters hang from the main and smaller branches, or directly from the trunk of the tree. They are many varieties of durians.

Durian Blossoms

There are over 300 named varieties of durian in Thailand. Only a few of these are in commercial cultivation. In Malaysia, 100 types are graded for size and quality. In peninsular Malaya, there are 44 clones with small differences in time and extent of flowering, floral and fruit morphology, productivity and edible quality. In Ceylon, the durian generally blooms in March and April and the fruits mature in July and August, but these periods may shift considerably, with the weather. Malaya has two fruiting seasons: early, in March and April; late, in September and October.

Water In The Kitchen

2007-11-06T16:50:00.000+08:00

This is small apples from China. My sister-in-law gave them to me. Before eating, they need to be washed. They are quite similar to apples, but the taste is very much different from that of the big apples.

This was the chicken porridge which I had cooked for Clara to eat before she went to school. To cook porridge, you need to wash the rice and then cover the rice with lots of water before placing it on the stove for it to boil. Chicken breasts are washed and then cut into small pieces. Clara hates to eat vegetables. I have to wash the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. My mother had given me half a pumpkin and I boiled some of it for Clara to eat.

The kitchen is the place where food are prepared and cooked. Water is a necessity in the kitchen. Nothing can be prepared and cooked without water. Water is needed for washing fruits, meat and vegetables. Water is needed for boiling and steaming. Water is also needed for making ice! All our water come from the taps in the house. In the kitchen, you can have various types of kitchen sinks and modern or traditional taps. Whichever kinds of taps or sinks you choose, the purpose is to give you convenience -- for washing and using. Without a good sink or a useful tap, cooking is very hard. Taps4Less.com is an online bathroom shop where you can shop for your choice of taps, showers, electric showers, bathroom accessories, bathroom suites, bathroom furniture, bathroom cabinets, baths, bath tubs, shower enclosures, shower valve etc.. Most importantly, at Taps4Less.com, you can find your kitchen taps, sinks, waste disposals and hoods.

Crock Pot Herbal Chicken

2007-10-23T11:48:00.000+08:00

I always tell my mother that I am very busy and there is hardly any time to be wasted on food. However, eating the same packed food and food from hawkers is so tiring too. She told me that cooking is not difficult. She always asked me to use the crock pot or slow cooker to cook. She even buy a slow-cooker for me.

Recently, I told my mother that I feel lethargic easily. She gave me this packet of chinese herbal called "Chong Cao Pao Shen Ji Tang" for cooking with chicken or pork or any meat. The ingredients consists of American Ginseng, Godonopsis Pilosula, Polygonathum, Chinese Yam, Astragalta, Cordyceps, Wolfberry fruit and some special recipe which are all packed in a small bag.

My mother had already got ready for me. All I have to do is to unpack, wash and cook. How thoughtful of her. That is real love from real mother, nobody can replace our mother's love for us, and no one would care more than our mother. My mother is equally busy at her own workplace, with her own work. Yet she manage to squeeze her time, do so much for me.

She de-skin all the chicken drumsticks. She gave me four drumsticks, one for each member of the family. After washing the chicken drumstick, I put them into the slow-cooker. I unpacked the herbal chicken soup and put all the ingredients into the slow-cooker as shown below.

You can see the bright red wolfberries and the worm-like cordyceps. I hate to see the sight of it. But they are good food. That is everything I need to do for cooking this Crock Pot Herbal Chicken. After putting on the cover or lid for the pot, I switched on the power of the slow-cooker. I left it on I head towards my daily tasks. At two hours, I could smell the fragrance of the chicken herbal soup. At three to four hours, the chicken was so tender and the soup tasted so tasty. The longer you cooked, the softer or tender the chicken is. However, extremely long time will cause the chicken to lose its sweetness.

I just discovered that I had forgotten to take a picture of the final product. The cooked chicken. I had cooked this two weeks ago, after I had just finished tuition with Valerie. The next time I cook this dish again, I am going to remember to take a snapshot of it. This is one of the Crock Pot Dish I had cooked. I cooked other Crock Pot food as well. But they are rather similar. Sometimes cooking recipes are just made up of sort of food is available to you from the fridge or your inventories. For the busy, modern mum, you have to think, you have to change and be flexible. You cannot be rigid on the recipes. Mums who care about their family will always like to think of different Crock Pot Recipes everyday so that their children or family members can have healthy and tasty food. Crock Pot or Slow-Cooker, to cook easy, nutritious and hassle-free meals for the family, you need a variety of Crock Pot Recipes. Be smart, be hip and be connected at MomsWhoThink, which offers you a varieties of Crock Pot Recipes like Crock Pot Chicken, Crock Pot Pork, Crock Pot Turkey, and even Crock Pot Fish and Seafood!

Humbly Good Chicken Rice

2007-09-25T08:44:00.000+08:00

The price is reasonable, the chicken are tasty, tender and fragrant. The soy sauce not too salty, the Achar fresh and nice. Everything is perfect. The plate is not luxurious, everything made of plastic. But the food taste better than those placed in beautiful porcelain bowls and plates. You can eat to your heart's content here, at Woodlands Ave 1.

More portion, tastier, better value for money, this chicken rice is always not forgotten. For ten years, I had known the stall and for ten years, my husband and I had been eating them. For eight years or so, Loy Kee does not seem to appeal to us. It may look impress passers-by but will they come again?

One thing which this chicken rice stall does not have is vegetable. It would be perfect if they sell either vegetable or bean sprouts.

Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice Review

2007-08-28T19:43:00.000+08:00

Singapore is well-known for its Chicken Rice. Where to eat the Best Chicken Rice? Yesterday I had written about Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice at my other blog, PeaceBella.com. Today I search for the main website, Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice and was surprised that they have home delivery. I am not going to link to them. You can do a search and you can see their official website.

This is what they said about Home Delivery Services:

Home Delivery Services
LOY KEE look forward to serves our customers to the best we can. Thus we will be delivering freshly prepared dishes to your doorstep without you having to leave the comfort of your home, office etc. Just give us a call and place your order through our delivery hotline

Kindly refer to menu and call our Delivery Hotline at 6252 2318 between 9am to 5pm daily. Minimum purchase of $30.00 entitles free delivery, otherwise $5.00 will be chargeable.

The picture above shows the main Chicken Rice that people would eat. They come in 2 person set meal, 3 person, 4 person and so on. For a person it cost S$6.00.

There are various chicken dishes, like Macaroni (pork and chicken), chicken curry, and many others. They serve Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course there are dessert, though not much a variety.

I went there with my family, a total of four person. This is the first dish, the rice was served first. Follow by the top of the picture, the chicken rice and then the next dish to come the curry chicken, the picture below.

The ate the curry chicken while Richard ate the Chicken Rice. My children shared the Chicken Macaroni, the picture below.

After the children finish the macaroni, they ate Ice Jelly. They wanted Ice Kacang but they do not have sago and my children do not want to eat it in the end.

What is my experience at Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice? Read my full encounter at PeaceBella.com, Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice. I do not want to write everything again.

There are many Loy Kee Chicken Rice outlets in Singapore. Woodgrove is the one that I went.

They even provide the address and a picture of their outlet at their main official website. This is their address:

Loy Kee Woodlands
The Woodgrove
30 Woodlands Ave 1 #01-06 The Woodgrove
Tel: 6364 6771/6364 6772

The design theme at the Woodlands branch is clean yet sleek, with lots of glass and metal, for you to enjoy a traditional meal in a modern setting.

Their Main Office:
Main Office : 24, Woodlands Terrace. Tel: 68523322
Singapore 738448

Yup, what they say is true. But its all 'LOOK'. Where a good meal is concerned, we want a good meal that can fill our stomach, a good meal that can leave us happy memory, can feel happy and comfortable eating there, and at the end, able to 'SMILE' our way out. Did I?? Did WE?? Not for all my trip there, not even one was memorable and not even had left me the feeling of 'going back for more'.

What is the reason for me to always go back there if I had gone back all these years? The top reason is Air-conditioner. The next is because it is near the church. The third is the food is not totally inedible. They are still okay, though not that special and not really delicious. How about Loy Kee at Other outlets? I have not tried others, except for West Mall perhaps. Loy Kee is still Loy Kee.

Honestly, I am not going back to Woodgrove branch anymore. The price on the menu does not tally with the receipt given to me. I thought that it was due to GST, but one more look at the receipt, GST was not added yet. The total costs for the whole meal was S$17.30. For this sum of money, I can enjoy more delicious Chicken rice further down at Woodlands Ave 1, and with more chicken. They may have a 'cool' environment for dining, but their service is totally out. It is the worst I have ever met so far. The next one which I had come across was Saki Sushi at West Mall.

Fried Cockles Kway Teow

2007-08-18T15:07:00.000+08:00

This is Fried Kway Teow or Cockles Kway Teow. It is one of my favourite food. For a few years, I can hardly find a place to eat Fried Cockles Kway Teow, until Banquet comes.

This is Banquet at Causeway Point, seventh floor. Their Fried Cockles Kway Teow is nice. But sometimes they have different chef. Different chef produce different results.

What I like about Fried Cockles Kway Teow is the Cockles. If Cockles Kway Teow got no cockles, I do not want to eat. There was a time when I went to queue up for a plate of Cockles Kway Teow, but they told me no cockles for the day. I cancelled my order. Perhaps the reason for me to eat Cockles Kway Teow or Laksa at times is my craving for Cockles.

Where to eat delicious Fried Kway Teow or Cockles Kway Teow? During my working years, I went to eat Fried Kway Teow at Bedok Food Court (near Bedok MRT stations), Hong Lim Complex Food Center, and my neighbourhood places -- "Marsiling Food center" (don't really know what place it is called, it is near the Causeway). These are the three places which have nice Fried Kway Teow. Horizon Food Mall serves Fried Kway Teow, but they are not as delicious as Banquet or those other hawker stalls. I ate once or twice and I stop buying from Horizon Food Court's Fried Kway Teow.

Recommended Australian Cooking

2007-08-08T00:30:00.000+08:00

Speaking of food, that is the only enjoyment I could have. It is also a family activity and a family gathering where everyone got to enjoy and have some fun together.

One of the greatest fortune is to eat a varieties of food. Different races, different cultures and traditions produces different kinds of cooking and good food. If not for these, we would be sick of eating the same old kind of food everyday.

Basically, what I used to cook at home are simple meals. Cooking at home like my mother always used to say, is not easy. The 'chef' has to cook something which the whole family wanted to eat. The 'chef' needs to cook different types of meals everyday. This is the most difficult part. Sometimes, I myself run out of ideas and at times, the family just get so sick of eating the same food day in and day out. We just need some change at times.

Western food is not easy to cook. It needs grilling, frying and baking. It is very time consuming and tedious. After a meal, there is so much washing up to do. When the craving for Western food comes, the family just visit one of the nearest restaurant and we would enjoy our dinner there. The above picture is Mango and Prawn Cocktails, an apetitizer, before the main dish was served. My favourite is shrimp while the children love mango. A plate of apetitizer to be shared among all of us.

Ricsson's favourite is soup, especially cream of mushroom soup. As can see from the above picture, he enjoyed every moment drinking the delicious soup. For these reasons, I always try to look up for some recipes on the web. I had been to America, their way of cooking is different from that of our own local country, even though we have our own Western food. It is something so different that our own local country would not have that kind of taste.

Picture of Seafood Risotto

Picture of Oysters Rockafeller

I have never tried Australian food. My husband had tried before. He loves the barbeque chicken wings and honey barbeque pork ribs from Australia. I would like to try Australian food. Do you know that you do not need to fly to Australia to have a taste of Australian food? At Aussie Cooking, various kinds of Australian Recipes can be found. It is a very good website if you love food. Some of the recipes come with pictures. I would love to see more pictures. But generally, there are many recipes and they are useful for people like me who wants to cook something new for the family. I love seafood and the above two pictures are just two pictures of two delicious dishes which I had found at Aussie Cooking. If you would love to have more Australian recipes then you should not hesitate to visit Aussie Cooking.

Besides Australian Recipes, Aussie Cooking have Cooking Forums, Cooking Articles, Australian Cooks Shopping and many more. Find Australian Cooking Classes, submit Australian Recipe and so on. Food lovers can share their interest in this wonderful place as well as learn something from here. Most importantly, we would want to produce good food, and Aussie Cooking is definitely a site where we can be assured of good food -- Chili King Prawns, Garlic Prawns, Oysters Rockafeller, Linguine Thai Prawn Balls, Oysters Kilpatrick , Prawn Cocktails,Salmon In Orange Sauce, Salmon Mousse , Seafood and Scallops with Hot Chilli Linguine , Smoked Salmon Pate, etc etc

Meatless Diet

2007-07-19T09:19:00.000+08:00

Vegans are people who avoid all animal products including milk and eggs. They must be sure to eat a wide range of plant food to avoid becoming deficient in basic nutrients. Even so, some may need extra vitamins and minerals. The vegetarian diet is healthier because it is normally low in fat since it does not contain fatty cuts of meat. It is also richer in fibre from beans, pulses and grains, which not only aids bowel function, but also reduces the absorption of fat and cholesterol from food. A vegetarian diet usually has less sodium and more potassium, which may help to lower blood pressure.

Do vegetarians need supplements? Vegetarians who eat dairy products rarely need supplements. Vegans may need vitamin B12 supplements. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding and eat a vegan diet will normally be advised to take a calcium supplement.

Having one meat-free day a week adds variety to your diet. Vegetarian food are not only easy to prepare but are also healthy and nutritious. They tend to be lower in calories and fats, and higher in fibre. The choice is wide. For lunch, you could have a vegetable or bean soup, a meat-free sandwich with a cheese, cottage cheese, egg, tomato and lettuce, or cucumber fillings; and fruit or yoghurt to follow. For dinner, walnuts and mushrooms in a casserole make a combination that will please even meat eaters. It can be served with rice and vegetables!

Super Cocktails

2007-06-26T12:08:00.000+08:00

Water is the necessity of life and water may be consumed anytime of the day. All nice and delicious food are served with drinks -- white wines, red wines, beer, smoothies, quencher, or any other Mixed Drinks.

A cocktail party cannot go without its cocktail drinks and food. To have a successful cocktail party, the menu and its choice of drinks is important. The menu should reflect a balance of flavours and textures, such as a mixture of meat, seafood, vegetables and dessert. For informal gathering or entertaining, barbecues are very good because dishes can be prepared in advance to serve at room temperature, and marinated seafood, meat or poultry can be quickly barbecued close to serving. Offer contrasting dishes and also disheds with a range of colours and shapes.

Tropical Fruit Smoothie
Ingredients
400g Mangoes
100g bananas
300ml Soya Milk
25g almonds, roasted and crushed

Methods
Blend all the ingredients together and serve.

You can have your own mixed drinks recipes. You can have alcoholic or non-alcoholic. You can add in Gin, rum, brandy and so on. You can be as creative as you want to be when making your cocktail drinks.

For a formal and elegant cocktail party, select a spacious room for entertaining all the guests. The choice of drinks depends on what are the food going to be served for the guests. If you have no idea on what drinks to serve, there is always books and online resources to help you. Below is a one of the drink recipe which I like. If you need more, then click for Mixed Drink Recipes, at supercocktails.com. What is all eat and drink without fun? A super cocktails must have good food, good drinks and Drinking Games!

Satay

2007-06-23T20:20:00.000+08:00

This is Singapore Satay. I ate these chicken satay yesterday. It was from a Malay Stall in Woodlands. I bought 10 sticks of chicken satays with two rice. Everything cost $6.00. I was surprised that the cost of satay had gone up. Last time it used to cost 25cents when I was a kid, then slowly went up to 30 cents and then recently 40 cents. However I had not bought satay that cost 50 cents yet from the neighbourhood stalls.

The Satays look nice, with no 'black' burns. Some satays are too overcooked, and there are mostly 'black' and we are eating more carbons. That is very unhealthy. This Chicken Satay here looks very nice, yellowish, and smell nice too. And when eaten hot, it is very tasty. The gravy is a bit too watery though.

Today I am going to eat the Chicken Satay again. My husband told me that Chicken rice and Chicken satay is known to be food that represent Singapore. Chicken Satay is the more commonly accepted ones as some westerners do not like chicken rice, which is a chinese food.

Kitchen Herbs

2007-06-21T01:02:00.000+08:00

Picture of Nettle

A herb is any plant that is valued for its medicinal, culinary or aromatic qualities. As well as livening up a dull recipe, herbs can be used to relax, soothe and energize, as well as to target specific organs, fight infection, bolster natural defenses against disease, and ease aches and pains.

Herbs can also be effective where conventional medicines are impotent. Antibiotics, for example, cannot eliminate viral infections, but many herbs can. Herbal remedies are powerful and they make up three-quarters of all the medicines used in the world. Indeed, the very word "drug" comes from the early German word droge, meaning to dry, as in drying herbs. It is estimated that up to half of all prescription drugs either come directly from plants or are chemical imitations of constituents naturally found in plants. Aspirin, for example, now considered a cure for conditions as diverse as heart disease and cataracts, is in fact, a chemical imitation of salicin, an acid derived from the bark of the white willow tree. Even less exotic herbs such as parsley have an important role in promoting optimum health. This herb, which you can chew to freshen the breath after eating garlic, can aid digestion and clear congestion caused by coughs and colds.

Picture of Sage

Top Ten Kitchen Herbs
1. Ginger: A spiritual and physical cleanser, good for coughs, colds, indigestion, travel sickness, morning sickness, arthritis and circulatory problems.

2. Basil: Stimulates the immune system to make more antibodies. Relieves many conditions, including asthma, arthritis, rheumatism and headaches.
3. Rosemary: A gentle liver tonic, it stimulates circulaion, strengthens the heartbeat and is a good antidote to stress.

4. Sage: Astringent and antiseptic, it has powerful anti-aging properties, enhances memory and may help protect against Alzheimer's disease.

5. Coriander: Antifungal and antibacterial action aids digestion and alleviates allergies and hayfever. Decongests the liver and eases cystitis and skin rashes.

6. Turmeric: May aid fat loss and boosts circulation. Energizes the immune system and speeds up wound healing.

7. Fenugreek: Relieves constipation, lowers cholesterol and reduces blood sugar levels. Soothes coughs, fevers, sore throats and menstrual pain.

8. Nettle: Protects against anaemia, allergies and hayfever, high blood pressure and heart disease. Can also alleviate the symptoms of prostate enlargement.

9. Garlic: Potent antibacterial agent, effective against colds, skin problems and digestive disorders. Can also help circulatory disorders.
10. Liquorice: Alleviates stomach disorders, bronchitis, sore throats, coughs, kidney problems and irritable bowel syndrome.

Acai Facts

2007-06-20T16:03:00.000+08:00

The acai (pronounce ah-sigh-ee) berry is a miracle fruit that has been around for thousands of years well-known for its nutrients. The acai berry is grown on Acai Palm Trees which is found in the Amazon Forest in Brazil. The Amazon Forest is the largest rainforest in the world where one third of all animals and plants species can be found. Research and Information on the Acai Berry found that acai berry has tremedous health benefits. The acai berries, which has medicinal properties, were first used by tribes of the Amazon jungle to cure various ailments. Today, there are many commercial acai supplies to consumers and they are highly promoted.

The main useful nutrients in acai is its antioxidants, proteins, fibre, omega-3, the essential fatty acids, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B3 (Niacin), Vitamin C, Vitamin E (tocopherol), iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium and amino acids. They are considered as superfood because of its nutrients rich contents and it has very high energy content. Having a vibrant taste of berries with a hint of chocolate aftertaste, people who eat acai increases strength, heightens awareness and improves mental clarity. The medicinal values of acai includes improvement in blood circulation, improvement in our cardiovascular system, cancer prevention, increasing energy, libido, and stamina. Acai has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to maintain youth and beauty. Taking acai helps to rejuvate our mind, body and spirit. It helps to prevent aging too.

With its wonderful benefits, acai is highly sought after in drinks and smoothies. The acai berries are highly perishable -- it must be consumed within 24 hours after they are harvested. Thus not every places around the world sells fresh acai berries. However, there are many places online where you can buy acai supplements and the juice. Many people seek ways to 'preserve' this wonder food. There are various ways of processing the fruit, such as spray dried acai, freeze dried acai and extracts. Not all the methods used are helpful. Various methods of processing acai might lost much of its nutrients or 'denatured' the nutrients.

Power Supplements have the Perfect Acai, a 100% Organic and Fair Trade Sambazon Freeze Dried Acai supplement. The whole story can be found at - http://www.powersupplements.com/acai. They are frustrated that products like MonaVie juice are not using Sambazon Acai and do not say how much Acai is actually in their product. They believe in keeping it simple - they have only 1 ingredient in Perfect Acai - Sambazon Organic Freeze Dried Acai. Nothing proprietary, nothing hidden. If you have heard about the incredible health properties of Acai and want to try Acai - Perfect Acai is the best way to go. Another article that will help spell out their frustration with MonaVie at http://www.powersupplements.com/acai/monavie-compare.html. Power Supplements have other useful articles if you are shopping for acai. To get value for your money and most importantly real quality acai which will help to bring out the best health benefits in you, find the Perfect Acai!

CupCakes

2007-06-19T21:10:00.000+08:00

Cupcakes have many advantages. They are wonderful desserts, snacks as well as party food, and children fun time. The most exciting part of making cupcakes is decorating it. Cupcakes decoration can be colourful, can be fun, can be as delicious as you want it to be. You can decorate it with your favourite fruits such as peach, bananas, cherries, strawberries, kiwi fruits etc. Besides fresh fruits, dried fruits such as apricots, pears and prunes, many other varieties of decorations can be used such as chocolates chips, colourful candies, colourful creams etc.

Besides eating cupcakes as a snack when you are hungry, cupcakes can be eaten after your main course, as desserts. It is especially tasty when eaten with a scope of ice-cream! Cupcakes are wonderful party food too. It can also be used as celebration for birthdays. Many varieties of cute cupcakes can be made which make parties more fun. This can be Elmo cupcakes, Pokemon cupcakes, Hello Kitty cupcakes, and even Halloween cupcakes and Valentine cupcakes.

At home, children can always have some fun to have hands-on experience on baking. Baking cupcakes can be fun time to be shared between the parents and the kids. It is a meaningful activities. Not only can children learn how to bake cakes, children can learn how to decorate their cupcakes. This can boost the confidence of children when they can see their wonderful piece of cupcake upon completion. Children also can bring cupcakes lunchboxes to school. Adults can bring cupcakes to their workplace as well.

Cupcakes are simply wonderful. There are too many creative ideas you can think of when it comes to baking cupcakes. Cakes are getting more expensive years after years. Cupcakes are costly nowadays too. Baking your own cakes and cupcakes at home not only can you save a lot of money, you can decorate it in whatever way you like. You can add whatever ingredients and flavour you like too.

Want to make cupcakes and don't know how to bake one? All you need is to get hold of cupcake recipes. With cupcake recipes you can make chocolate cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, and more. You can 'dress-up' the cupcakes in any way you like, to suit the taste of yourself, your children and your family. There are several cupcake recipes you can get online or in cooking book. However, if you want to make the yummiest and tastiest cupcakes, you can get hold of Cupcake Recipes E-book by Brock Hamilton. Brock Hamilton has several years of baking experience and she has her own baking shop and is a supplier of cakes and pastries to hotels, restaurants, and cafes for years. Visit cupcake-recipes.com to buy the ebook now!

Food Pal

2007-06-13T14:54:00.000+08:00

All good food comes from the kitchen. The kitchen is the place for cooking. There are various cooking methods such as steaming, deep-frying, stir-frying, boiling and stewing and so on. In many modern home nowadays, boiling, steaming, brewing or any other methods of cooking that does not cause the kitchen to be 'oily' and 'smoky' after cooking.

However, if the kitchen is restricted to only these methods of cooking, there are not going to have much varieties of delicious food such as deep-fried butter cereal prawns or curry chicken coming out from the kitchen. The family cannot enjoy such delicious food.

To solve the problems, we need cooking hoods that can effectively 'suck up all the smoke and grease' from cooking. My house have no cooking hood. My cooking is very restricted and limited as such. I have fear of cleaning up the mess after cooking, especially if I cook fried fish, fried vegetables and fried chicken. Very often, I cannot have 'big' fire as this would cause even much 'oil' on my hob and surrounding walls. That is why I need to look for a cooking hood. I am sick of buying outside food and eating packed food from stalls.

I would shop for cooking hood whenever I am free. While surfing for some kitchen ideas, I come across range hoods, Futuro Futuro, offering a large variety of designs of Italian made range hoods. I was very impressed and inspired by their range of hoods displayed at their sites. They have beautiful designs and their hoods in the kitchen looks so elegant. There are island mounted and wall mounted hoods. They also sell some accessories, which is important for maintenance of hoods such as replacement of filters, light bulbs etc. I like the island mounted hoods. These are some pictures taken from their site. I love them. How I wish my kitchen can look as such!

This is the perfect design of the hood that I would like for my kitchen. If you would like to have this for your kitchen, visit www.futurofuturo.com for even more range of hoods!

I would want my future home to be like that. Imagine having a powerful hood that can suck up all smoke and grease, I can even have Teppanyaki at home!

Imagine a spacious, neat and tidy kitchen where you can cook anything you like and anything you are craving for without having to worry about 'smoke and greasiness', isn't that wonderful and really peace of mind? It is my dream to have such kitchen!

Well-known for its power and quiet performance, a modern kitchen should have such hood to enjoy good food at home. A good kitchen hood is definitely our good 'helper' in the kitchen and our food pal. Without a good hood, there won't be any good food from the kitchen. With 'powerful' hood, you can have peace while cooking your food. You do not need to worry about much cleaning up and difficulties in cleaning up too. You can enjoy your food as soon as you finish cooking! You can cook any dish you want, any cooking methods! To have good food, you need a good pal, a good hood like range hood!

Wine And Food

2007-06-12T22:01:00.000+08:00

Archeological clues suggest that grapes were cultivated as far back as 4000BC, and although the exact origins of wine-making are uncertain, civilization has merely refined what is a natural process. Stronger glass and tighter stoppers, and Louis Pasteur's research into fermentation in the 19th century enabled the production of wine to develop into the huge commercial industry that it is today.

Wine is produced in various countries such as France, Germany, Australia, North America, California and South Africa. California accounts for 95% of wine made in the United States. All wine, whether still, sparkling, fortified or aromatized, is fermented grape juice. It may be red, white, or pink and dry, medium, or sweet in style, with an alcohol content of 5.5 to 14%. Grape spirit is added to fortified wine, raising the alcohol level to 15-22%. Sparkling wine contains trapped carbon dioxide bubbles, which are released on opening. Recent years have been great changes in wine-making around the world. Divisions between the Old World, where tradition governed over science, and the more experimental New World, are disappearing as skill, expertise, technology, and investment are traded, and styles are imitated and invented with equal relish.

Wine can be consumed or it can be purchased as an investment. The theory behind investing in wine is that its value increases as it matures. However, wine should always be drunk for enjoyment and appreciation. Balance is the key when enjoying wine with food. The food and wine need to complement, never overpower each other. Neutral food is best with fine wine. Seek advice on food that are difficult to match, such as chocolate, strong cheeses, grapefruit, asparagus, and pickles. Where possible, team regional food with its local wines. Allow personal preference to be your main guide. For example in creamy sauce fish dishes, dry white wine will taste better with it. On the other hand, fish cooked in red wine will taste good with red wine.

The weather, tradition and etiquette all influence what wine you serve for your special occasion. Whether you buy wine from a specialist outlet, a supermarket or an online wine store such as Porthos, the choice of wine is up to you -- your budget, your personal preference, the people you are with, and what you are doing. The most important is enjoyment, which is the best reason of all to drink wine!

Porthos, 'the wine insiders', established in June, 2000 in Sausalito, features the finest Napa Cabernets priced $30 - $100. At Porthos, not only can you have access to the tastiest “big name” wines such as Silver Oak, Duckhorn, etc, you can also have “insider access” to undiscovered, boutique wines before the critics and collector crowd discover them! At Porthos, you can find good quality wine because their team tastes over 5,000 wines per year and only the best of the best are featured in their portfolio. Shop at their store now for your favourite wine to enjoy with your food!

Sweet Temptations

2007-04-21T21:48:00.000+08:00

The simplest Chinese dessert consists of a plate of fruits ranging from apples, water-melons, honey dews to papayas. While Chinese may not be well known for their large repertoire of desserts, Chinese desserts can be very delicate and delicious.

Chinese meals don't feature desserts, but there is no denying it is a pleasant custom and most Chinese restaurants humour their patrons by providing something to end the meal on a sweet note such as Toffee Apples, Almond Bean Curd or that incredibly Fried Ice Cream.

Most often though, sweets are eaten as between-meal snacks. Chinese sweet-meats are turned out in factories and are quite cheap and easy to purchase. Don't expect the labels to enlighten you about the contents. 'Peanut Cake' for instance, is flat, crisp and rather similar to Middle Eastern halva.

In addition, there are brittle, toffee-like bars of sesame seeds and sugar; deep fried cookies made of thin, crisp batter; flaky pastry or soft, freshly steamed yeast buns with fillings of sweet bean paste or lotus nut paste. Moon cakes, which sell by the thousand during the period leading up to the Moon Festival, are made from pastry pressed into a patterned wooden mould, filled with a solid core of chopped preserved fruits and nuts then richly glazed and baked. Those most prized have, in the centre, the yolk of a salted duck egg. However, not all people like the taste of it.

There is also a variety of dried fruit, prettily wrapped in paper and labelled either 'Preserved Plum', 'Preserved Prune', or 'Honeyed Apricot'. They are sweet but also tasty also salty, a combination that is strange at first, then addictive. Dried longans in their shells are totally different from the fresh or canned fruit. The shell becomes thin, brittle and easily cracked while the fruit has turned dark, rather like a large, round raisin.

Walnut and date 'cake' is a sticky, fudge-like creation but pleasant and not too sweet. A word of advice: some of these sweets are wrapped twice and the inner wrapping which looks like fine food wrap is really rice paper which is meant to be eaten with the sweet. Don't try to remove it -- it defies all efforts. Perhaps the most popular ending to a meal is fortune cookies. These too are sold in packets, but are so much nicer if freshly made.

Best Fish Balls Noodle

2007-03-12T14:03:00.001+08:00

These are two sets of Fish Ball Noodles, one with Chilli and one without Chilli.

Another closer view of the Chilli Fish Ball Noodles. The Chilli Fish Balls Noodles come with Vinegar in it and I do not like the smell of vinegar. So this set of Chilli Fish Balls Noodles is meant for me.

This is photographs of fish ball noodles taken on 3 March 2007. It was on a Saturday morning. My husband and I sent our children for catechism class. While the children were in class, we went over to the food court at Woodgrove.

My husband used to eat the Nasi Lemak there and I will eat Fried Bee Hoon at the same stall, or some other times, I will eat Fish Ball noodle at another stall. This year, when catechism class starts again, we went over to the food court, but was surprised to see that the Nasi Lemak/Fried Bee Hoon stall was gone. Our breakfast at Woodgrove will need to be changed then. Luckily my favourite Fish Ball Noodle stall is still there. So now every Saturday, Fish Ball noodles is our breakfast.

I do not like to eat Fish Ball noodles with vinegar. The hawker told me that if I do not want vinegar then don't put chilli. So whenever I order Fish Ball noodle from him, I ask for no Chilli. And it is delicious. I like the noodle very much. It tasted just like one of those Fish Balls Noodles that my parents bought for me when I was young --- and I really miss those! So I never get tired of eating these Fish Balls Noodles of him, moreover it is once every week. My husband will always eat with Chilli. I hate the smell of vinegar. I do not like to eat minced meat too. So whenever I order Fish Ball Noodles, I will ask for 'All Fish Ball'. My husband hate it when he needs to tell the hawker so much stuff and mine requirements. So I always do all the ordering and my husband will wait for me at the table, reading his newspaper.

Woodgrove is a quiet and seem 'secluded' place. The traffic is not as good as Causeway Point. The management should beautify the place more and made it into a night place, with more activities at night, such as a little pub, lounge or Satay Club or BBQ stuff like that. I would definitely hangout there if the place look cleaner and have better dining place rather than 'Kopi Tiam'. The place should have a revamp. The only restaurant that I like is the Western Restaurant there, but it is the odd one out, with those other stalls around -- even if the restaurants serves nice food whatsoever, I would not have went there just to have my meals. There is no beautiful sceneries or anything worth visiting either.

The Fish Balls are separated from the noodles. Usually when I ask for 'All Fish Balls', they will not give me the fish cake. But today, I think he is blurred. He is forgiven. I don't mind if he don't put minced meat in it.

The noodles is what I like best at this Fish Ball Noodles Stall. The Fried Onions is so fragrant and crispy, it tasted just like what my mother used to cook. It just taste so yummy.

But thanks to the Fish Ball Hawker. I get to savour my Childhood Fish Ball Noodles every Saturday morning. This is the best Fish Balls Noodles I ever had.

Chocolate Facts

2007-02-08T14:07:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day is round the corner. Many children and adults love chocolates. Chocolates are added to many of the chinese cookies and cakes as flavours. Chocolate is one of the flavour used in most desserts too. There are various types of chocolates, for example, unsweetened chocolates, bittersweet chocolates, white chocolates, cocoa powder, sweet chocolates and so on. Christopher Columbus is believed to be the first European to discover chocolate. The first "chocolate box" was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868, when he decorated a candy box with a painting of his young daughter holding a kitten in her arms. Cadbury also invented the first Valentine's Day candy box.

Here are some record-winning chocolates, according to the Guinness Book of World Records:

The largest chocolate bar ever manufactured weighed 5,026 lbs and was exhibited by Elah-Dufour United Food Companies at Eurochocolate in Turin, Italy in March 2000.

The largest box of chocolates ever made was a Frango mint chocolates box weighing 3,226 lbs created by Marshall Field's, Chicago, Illinois, USA on November 14, 2002. The box contained 90,090 individual chocolates.

On April 4, 1996, the Rotary Club of Piet Retief, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, made a chocolate and marshamallow Easter egg which was just over 25-ft high. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs and was supported by an internal steel frame.

The Northwest Fudge Factory in Ontario, Canada, created a slab of fudge that weighed 2,002 lbs, making it the record-holding largest slab of fudge. The chocolate-and-vanilla-swirl fudge measured 166 ft long, 9 in wide and 3 in high. The fudge took a total of 86 hours to prepare and 13 individuals to pour it into shape.

Chocolate contains cocoa butter, a vegetable fat that is sensitive to heat and humidity. Temperatures above 75 degrees will cause chocolate to melt. There are many advantages of eating chocolates. A lot of people, especially women may be afraid of the fattening effect of chocolates, but it was found that eating chocolates could create a sense of happiness in the human brain -- the effect of serotonin which tend to increase when eating chocolates. In addition, research has found that chocolate could be packed with high-quality anti- oxidants that may reduce the risk of developing cancer and heart disease. Cocoa and chocolate are rich in minerals that the body needs, including magnesium and iron. The level of caffeine in chocolate (6 mg per 1 oz. of milk chocolate) is low when compared to the level in coffee, tea and some soft drinks.

Chocolates are perfect gift for most of the occasions like wedding, Christmas, birthday, anniversaries and many more pleasant events. Gourmet chocolates have remained as a top gift for pleasant moments. There are plenty of online shops which sell chocolates as gifts, which you can get delivered to yourself or your loved ones. Valentine's Day is round the corner. There are various assortments of chocolates available for purchase and delivery this Valentine's Day at Chocolate Covered Company. You might consider giving your lover a box of chocolates or even Chocolate Covered Strawberries!

Dim Sum

2007-01-12T14:40:00.000+08:00

Traditional dim sum includes various types of steamed buns such as char siew bao, dumplings and rice rolls, which contain a range of ingredients, including beef, chicken, pork, prawns and vegetarian options. Many dim sum restaurants also offer plates of steamed green vegetables, roasted meats, congee porridge and other soups. Dessert dim sum is also available and many places offer the customary egg custard tart - "dan tat." Having a meal in a Chinese teahouse or a dim sum restaurant is known as yum cha (飲茶), literally "drinking tea", as tea is typically served with dim sum.

Most formal banquets start with appetizers. A trend that has also become popular, even when having just a simple meal in a Chinese restaurant, is to assuage the pangs of hunger until the main dishes arrive by ordering a plate or two of hot dim sum. These are usually enclosed in fine pastry and either steamed or fried.

Dim sum is a Chinese light meal or brunch served with Chinese tea. It is eaten some time from morning to early afternoon with family or friends. Dim sum consists of a wide spectrum of choices, from sweet to salty. It includes combinations of meat, vegetables, seafood, as well as desserts and fruit. The various items are usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate, depending on the type of dim sum.

Originating with the chefs of the Sung Dynasty, these little mouthfuls were intended as delicacies and culinary showpieces to impress guests. Dim Sum literally means 'touch the heart'. It may be derived from yat dim sum yi, meaning a "a little token". Though the English word "dim sum" refers to the Cantonese variety, the idea of a wide variety of small dishes for lunch also holds for other regions of China.

Equivalent terms, such as dian xin in Mandarin, exist in other varieties of Chinese, as a generic term for any of a variety of snacks or small food items. The terms "northern dian xin" or "Shanghai dian xin" have thus come into use. These dian xin are, however, not necessarily Cantonese dim sum, although the two still share the same written script in traditional and simplified characters. Likewise, the Korean cognate jeomsim may refer to any kind of lunch.

In Australia the word dim sim is used for a particular kind of dumpling.

Gradually they were aspired to by the merchant class and eventually by the working class. Now they are so popular with all manner of people that in Chinese cities (or Chinese quarters of western cities) whole families, from grandparents to babies in arms, gather at restaurants on a Sunday morning especially, for yum cha (tea) or dim sum brunch.

The concept of a dim sum meal grew up around the Chinese tea house where people met to talk, read newspapers, or simple refuel. There are dim sum restaurants that operate as early as 4 am as Chinese workers from workers from night shifts come in for cup after cup of hot tea and an endless variety of small savoury dishes. By eight in the morning, these places close. It is then that the more elegant restaurants starts serving their dim sum to the leisured classes who rise later. At working-class tea houses the dim sum are actually quite hearty, not dainty as a fashionable restaurants.

Dim sum can be cooked by steaming and frying, among other methods. The serving sizes are usually small and normally served as three or four pieces in one dish. It is customary to order family style, sharing dishes among all members of the dining party. Because of the small portions, people can try a wide variety of food.

Dim sum dishes can be ordered from a menu or sometimes the food is wheeled around on a trolley by servers. Traditionally, the cost of the meal is calculated based on the number, size, and sometimes color of the dishes left on the patron's table. Some modern dim sum restaurants record the dishes on a bill at the table. Not only is this tidier, it also prevents patrons from cheating by concealing or stealing the plates. Servers in some restaurants use distinct stamps so that sales statistics for each server can be recorded.

Waitresses circulate among the crowded tables with trolleys or trays bearing steaming baskets, plates and bowls. In them or on them is an incredible variety of dim sum. Customers look them over and choose whatever appeals, and at the end of the meal the waitress counts the empty dishes and calculates the bill.

Fast food and Premade dim sum
Two women picking microwave-cooked dim sum from the freezer in Circle K, Hong Kong.
Two women picking microwave-cooked dim sum from the freezer in Circle K, Hong Kong.

Certain kinds of instant dim sum have come onto the market in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore. People can enjoy snacks after a 3-minute defrosting and reheating of the instant dim sum in a microwave oven.

Some stalls serve "street dim sum" which usually consists of dumplings or meatballs steamed in a large container, but served on a bamboo skewer. The customer can dip the whole skewer into a sauce bowl and eat while standing or walking.

Dim Sum can be purchased from major grocery stores in most countries with a Chinese population. These dim sum can be easily cooked by steaming or microwaving. Major grocery stores in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Mainland China, Malaysia, USA and Canada have a variety of dim sum stocked at the shelves. These include dumplings, siu maai, bau, cheong fun, lo bak go and steamed spare ribs. In Singapore as well as other countries, dim sum can also be purchased from convenience stores, coffee shops and other eateries. In Malaysia, halal-certified dim sum with pork being replaced by chicken are sold.

Butterfly Prawns

2007-01-11T14:51:00.000+08:00

Low in fat and calories — especially when flavored in a low-fat marinade — shrimp also offers beneficial doses of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 and niacin. Shrimp also are mineral-rich, supplying iron, zinc and copper.

With all types of shrimp, look for firm meat with a sweet, lightly briny aroma. Shrimp with discolored shells or an ammonia smell should be rejected. Purchasing frozen shrimp is fine as long as you can either see or feel for any problems. If the bag is transparent, look inside for ice crystals and discolored spots that may indicate freezer burn.

While cooking shrimp, one has to be careful not to overcook it as this toughens the flesh. The key to cooking shrimp, regardless of method, is to cook them quickly. Shrimp can be baked, boiled, broiled, microwaved or poached, sautéed, steamed or stir-fried. Frozen cooked shrimp is ideally thawed in the refrigerator sometime before you need it. After thawing, they can be kept for up to three days. Thawed shrimp should not be refreezed.

Recipes for Butterfly Prawns

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
12 large raw prawns
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoons Chinese wine or dry sherry
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup cornflour(cornstarch)
1 large egg, beaten
breadcrumbs for coating
peanut oil for deep frying

Method
Shell and devein the prawns, leaving the tails intact. With a sharp knife, slit the prawns along curve of the back but do not cut right through. Flatten gently. Combine soy sauce, wine, garlic crushed with salt, ginger. Marinate the prawns in this mixture for 15 minutes.

Dip the prawns into cornflour, shake off excess, then dip into the beaten egg and finally into the breadcrumbs. Press gently to flatten the prawns again and to firm on the crumb coating. Chill for 30 minutes.

Heat a wok, add oil and when hot, fry the prawns, two or three at a time, until golden brown (about 2 minutes). Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, with chilli sauce if desired.

Some Facts About Prawns

Prawns are edible, shrimp-like crustaceans, belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. They are distinguished from the superficially similar shrimp by the gill structure which is branching in prawns (hence the name, dendro="tree"; branchia="gill"), but is lamellar in shrimp. The sister taxon to Dendrobranchiata is Pleocyemata, which contains all the true shrimp, crabs, lobsters, etc.

Difference Between Shrimp And Prawn

As used in commercial farming and fishery, the terms shrimp and prawns are generally used interchangeably. In European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, the word "prawns" is more commonly on menus than the term "shrimp", which is used more often in the United States. Australia and other commonwealth countries follow this European/British use to an even greater extent, using the word "prawn" almost exclusively.

Prawn Toast

2007-01-10T14:40:00.000+08:00

Serves 6 - Serve as a tasty appetizer with drinks, as part of a meal, between courses, or as a snack.

Ingredients
6 square slices white bread
250g raw prawns
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
peanut oil for deep frying

Method
Trim the crusts off the bread, cut each slice in half diagonally or into three strips, and leave on a tray for an hour or two to dry out a little.

Shell and devein the prawns. If using frozen prawns, thaw completely and drain off any liquid. Chop the prawns very finely and place in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the beaten egg, the ginger, salt, oyster sauce and cornflour; mix well to blend to a smooth paste.

Spread the bread with prawn mixture. Press a sprig of coriander on some of the pieces. Brush other pieces lightly with the remaining beaten egg, and dip in sesame seeds to coat.

Heat the oil for deep frying and when hot, put in a few pieces of bread at a time, prawn side downwards. Fry until the bread is golden, lift out on wire spoon and allow to drain on absorbent paper. Serve hot.

Vanilla

2006-12-12T11:40:00.000+08:00

Vanilla originated in Mexico, where the Aztecs used it to accent the flavor of chocolate drinks. The Mexican emperor, Montezuma, introduced Vanilla to the Spanish explorer Cortez, who brought it to Europe in the 16th century. The drink, made with Vanilla pods and cacao beans, became popular among the aristocracy in Europe. In 1602, a chemist for Queen Elizabeth I suggested that Vanilla could be used alone as a flavoring.

Vanilla is a flavouring derived from orchids in the genus Vanilla. The name came from the Spanish word "vainilla", diminutive form of "vaina" (meaning "sheath"), which is in turn derived from Latin "vagina"

Vanilla is a vine: it grows by climbing over some existing tree, pole, or other support. It can be grown in a wood (on trees), in a plantation (on trees or poles), or in a "shader", in increasing orders of productivity. Left alone, it will grow as high as possible on the support, with few flowers.

The main species harvested for vanillin is Vanilla planifolia. It is a native of Mexico, though it is now widely grown throughout the tropics. Madagascar is the world's largest producer. Additional sources include Vanilla pompona and Vanilla tahitiensis (grown in Tahiti).

Vanilla has many uses. Being the most popular flavorings in the world, it is used in flavoring most desserts, including ice cream, custard, cake, candy, and pudding. Vanilla is also used to enhance the flavor of beverages and sauces. Not only can it do wonders for most foods and beverages, it is also very useful in calming our minds and bodies and helping us to feel good.

Some of the uses of vanilla are:
1. Antacid
Add a few drops to pineapple, fruit salads, or sauces containing citrus, to soften the sharpness and give it extra sweetening. Put a little vanilla in tomato sauces to neutralize the acidity. When your stomach is upset, the addition of pure vanilla to mineral water or apple juice can help.

2. Enhancer
Vanilla flavour is detectable in many chocolate and confectionery items and several liqueurs such as Crème de Cacao and Galliano. Vanilla extract is made by percolating alcohol and water through chopped, cured beans. Vanilla extract is very powerful, a few drops sufficing for most uses. Vanilla’s mellow fragrance enhances a variety of sweet dishes: puddings, cakes, custards, creams, soufflés and, of course, ice cream. Classic examples include crème caramel, peach Melba and apple Charlotte.

3. Emulsifier
Add vanilla extract to egg batters (sweet or savory), waffle or pancake mix, baked goods, or cream sauces to smooth and blend overpowering flavors.

4. Natural Sweetener
Add a few drops of vanilla to vegetables, sweet potatoes, and salad dressings. It increases the natural sweetness of vegetables and provides a delicate, subtle flavor to salads.

5. Hot food relief
Some people find that after burning your tongue on a too-hot cup of coffee or pizza, or eating hot, spicy foods like chilies, a few drops of vanilla placed on the tongue provides a soothing remedy.

6. Spider repellent
By adding one or two vanilla beans to your furniture polish and using it on the top and underside of your furniture, you can help keep spiders away.

7. Fishing aid
Experienced fishermen often rub vanilla on their hands before handling their line to disguise their scent.

8. Medicinal
The warm and comforting aroma of vanilla has long been a favorite aroma in the cosmetic industry. Aromatherapists use it to create a relaxed, euphoric mood and to counteract tension, frustration and irritability. The sweet, exotic aroma is also associated with sensuality and confidence. It is undeniably a familiar and comforting scent that most men and women find pleasant.

In old medicinal literature, vanilla is described as an aphrodisiac and a remedy for fevers, but these purported uses have never been scientifically proven. But studies at the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago have indicated that vanilla can both promote sexual arousal in men and also help people fall asleep faster and more quickly into the REM or dream state.

The vanilla pods (beans) have no flavour when picked, as the flavour develops during the curing process. The pods take about nine months to mature and are harvested when the tips begin to turn from yellow. Until recently, the curing process was long and complicated. The beans are first wrapped and subjected to high temperature and humidity to ‘kill’ the vegetative life. The next process involves alternate drying in the sun by day and sweating by night for several days. At this point the beans are dark, oily and pliable and are then slowly dried in the shade for up to two months. They are then sorted and graded and placed in chests for a further conditioning period of one or two months.

Vanilla can be purchased in a variety of forms for culinary use -- beans, powder, extracts and flavours. Vanillin is a key flavor component of vanilla. In good quality vanilla, the level of vanillin is measured to make sure it is present at a high enough quantity, but a synthetic vanilla based just on vanillin will have an insipid and thin taste, even if natural vanillin is used in it's manufacture.

The flavor of true vanilla is the result of a complex mixture of flavour and fragrance constituents. Pure vanilla is expensive. In order to make the product (or something like the product) more affordable, imitation vanilla was developed. Imitation vanilla is made from artificial flavourings.

Watkins uses rich vanilla beans to brew a pure vanilla extract. Once "brewed", it is fortified with straight vanillin and other ingredients to make the flavor resistant to degradation by heat or freezing and to make the product double strength. The vanilla is carefully aged, and has a very low alcohol level (8-1/4%), which makes it even more heat resistant. Not only is watkins the best tasting vanilla, it is also more economical because you only need to use half as much. Watkins original vanilla is certified Kosher. Watkins is the best vanilla you can buy.
Watkins Original Double Strength Vanilla's unique bake proof and freeze proof qualities have made if a favorite for generations of bakers.

Types Of Cookware & Bakeware

2006-12-02T12:31:00.000+08:00

The size and shape of a cooking vessel is typically determined by how it will be used. Cooking vessels are typically referred to as "pots" and "pans," but there is great variation in their actual shapes. Most cooking vessels are circular in cross section.

1. Braising pans and roasting pans (also known as braisers and roasters) are large, wide and shallow, to provide space to cook a roast (chicken, beef, or pork). They typically have two loop or tab handles, and may have a cover. Roasters are usually made of heavy gauge metal so that they may be used safely on a cooktop following roasting in an oven. Unlike most other cooking vessels, roasters are usually oblong or oval. There is no sharp boundary between braisers and roasters - the same pan, with or without a cover, can be used for both functions.

2. Casserole pans (for making casseroles resemble roasters and dutch ovens, and many recipes can be used interchangeably between them. Depending on their material, casseroles can be used in the oven or on the stovetop. Casseroles are commonly made of glazed ceramics or pyrex.

3. Dutch ovens are heavy, relatively deep, pots with a heavy lid, designed to re-create oven conditions on the stovetop (or campfire). They can be used for stews, braised meats, soups, and a large variety of other dishes that benefit from low heat, slow cooking. Dutch ovens are typically made from cast iron, and are measured by volume.

4. Frying pans, frypans, or skillets provide a large flat heating surface and shallow sides, and are best for pan frying. Frypans with a gentle, rolling slope are sometimes called omelette pans. Grill pans are frypans that are ribbed, to let fat drain away from the food being cooked. Frypans and grill pans are generally measured by diameter (20–30 cm).

5. Griddles are flat plates of metal used for frying, grilling, and making pan breads (such as pancakes, injera, tortillas, chapatis, and crepes). Traditional iron girdles are circular, with a semicircular hoop fixed to opposite edges of the plate and rising above it to form a central handle. Rectangular griddles that cover two stove burners are now also common, as are griddles that have a ribbed area that can be used like a grill pan. Like frypans, round griddles are generally measured by diameter (20–30 cm).

6. In Scotland, griddles are referred to as girdles. In some Spanish speaking countries, a similar pan is referred to as a comal. Crepe pans are similar to griddles, but are usually smaller, and made of a thinner metal.

7. Both griddles and frypans can be found in electric versions. These may be permanently attached to a heat source, similar to a hot plate.

8. Saucepans (or just "pots") are vessels with vertical sides about the same height as their diameter, used for simmering or boiling. Saucepans generally have one long handle. Larger pots of the same shape generally have two handles close to the sides of the pot (so they can be lifted with both hands), and are called sauce-pots or soup pots (3–12 liters). Saucepans and saucepots are measured by volume (usually 1–8 L). While saucepots often resemble dutch ovens in shape, they do not have the same heat capacity characteristics.

9. Ironically, the saucepan is not the ideal vessel to use for making sauces. It is more efficient to use saucepans with sloping sides, called Windsor pans, or saucepans with rounded sides, called sauciers. These provide quicker evaporation than straight sided pans, and make it easier to stir a sauce while reducing.

10. Saute pans, used for sauteing, have a large surface area, like a frypan, but with vertical sides, to prevent food from escaping during cooking.

11. Stockpots are large pots with sides at least as tall as their diameter. This allows stock to simmer for extended periods of time without reducing too much. Stockpots are typically measured in volume (6-36 L).

12. Woks, are typically lens-shaped. This allows a small pool of cooking oil to be heated to a high heat using relatively little fuel, while the outer areas of the wok are used to keep food warm after it has been fried in the oil. In the Western world, woks are typically used only for stir-frying, but they can actually be used for anything from steaming to deep frying.

Bakeware
Baking pans are designed for use in the oven (for baking) and encompass a variety of different styles of bakeware such as cake pans, pie pans, and loaf pans. These are often made from light or medium gauge metal.

Cake pans can include square pans, round pans, and specialty pans such as angel food cake pans and springform pans often used for baking cheesecake.

Sheet pans or cookie sheets are bakeware with large flat surfaces.

Cookware Materials

2006-12-01T12:30:00.000+08:00

Metal pots are generally made from a narrow range of metals. This is because pots and pans need to conduct heat well, but also need to be chemically unreactive so that they do not alter the flavor of the food. Most materials that are conductive enough to heat evenly are too reactive to use in food preparation. In some cases (copper pots, for example), a pot may be made out of a more reactive metal, and then tinned or clad with another.

Aluminum
Aluminum is a lightweight metal with very good thermal conductance. It does not rust, and is resistant to many forms of corrosion. Aluminum can however react with some acidic foods to change the taste of the food. Sauces containing egg yolks, or vegetables such as asparagus or artichokes may cause oxidation of non-anodized aluminum. Since 1965 circumstantial evidence has linked Alzheimer's disease to aluminum, but to date there is no proof that the element is involved in causing the disease. Aluminum is commonly available in sheet, cast, or anodized forms.

Sheet aluminum is spun or stamped into form. Due to the softness of the metal it is commonly alloyed with magnesium, copper, or bronze to increase its strength. Sheet aluminum is commonly used for baking sheets, pie plate, and cake or muffin pans. Stockpots, steamers, pasta pots, and even skillets are also available from sheet aluminum.

Cast aluminum produces a thicker product than sheet aluminum, making it suitable for saucepots, Dutch ovens, and heavyweight baking pans such as bundt pans. Due to the microscopic pores caused by the casting process cast aluminum has a lower thermal conductivity than sheet aluminum.

Anodized aluminum has had the naturally occurring layer of aluminium oxide thickened by an electrolytic process to create a surface that is hard and non-reactive. It is used for sauté pans, stockpots, roasters, and Dutch ovens.

Copper
Classically in Western cooking, the best pots were made out of a thick layer of copper for good thermal conductivity and a thin layer of tin to prevent the copper from reacting with acidic foods. Copper pans provide the best conductivity, and therefore the most even heating. They tend, however, to be heavy, expensive, and to require occasional retinning. They are now available with stainless steel rather than tin linings which last much longer. They are best for such high-heat, fast-cooking techniques as sautéeing.

Cast Iron
Cast iron cookware is slow to heat, but once at temperature provides even heating. Cast iron can also withstand very high temperatures. Being a reactive material, cast iron can have chemical reactions with high acid foods such as wine or tomatoes. In addition, spinach cooked on bare cast iron will turn black.

Cast iron is a porous material and requires seasoning before use. Seasoning creates a thin layer of fat and carbon over the iron that coats the surface and prevents sticking. Although cast iron cookware can be washed with soap, it should not be soaked or left wet.

Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is an iron alloy containing a minimum of 11.5% chromium. Blends containing 18% chromium with either 8% nickel,called 18/8, or with 10% nickel, called 18/10, are commonly used for kitchen equipment. Stainless steel's virtues are a resistance to corrosion, it does not react with either alkaline or acidic foods, and it is not easily scratched or dented. Stainless steel's drawback for cooking use is that it is a relatively poor heat conductor. As a result, stainless steel cookware is generally made with a disk of copper or aluminium in or on the base to conduct the heat across the base.

Carbon Steel
Carbon steel cookware can be rolled or hammered into very thin sheets of material, while still maintaining high strength and heat resistance. This allows for rapid and high heating. Carbon steel does not conduct heat as well as other materials, but this may be an advantage for woks and paella pans, where one portion of the pan is intentionally kept at a different temperature than the rest. Like cast iron, carbon steel must be seasoned before use. Carbon steel is often used for woks and crepe pans.

Enameled cast iron
Enameled cast iron cooking vessels are made of cast iron covered with a porcelain surface. This creates a piece that has the heat distribution properties of cast iron combined with a non-reactive, non-stick surface.

Clad aluminum or copper
Cladding is a technique for fabricating pans with a layer of heat conducting material, such as copper or aluminium, sandwiched between a non-reactive material, such as stainless steel. Rather than just a heat-distributing disk on the base, the copper or aluminum extends over the entire pan. This provides much of the functionality of tinned-copper pots for a fraction of the price.

Non-stick
Modern metal cooking pans are frequently coated with a substance such as Teflon in order to minimize the possibility of food sticking to the pan surface. This has advantages and disadvantages for flavor and ease of use. A small amount of sticking is needed to cause flavorful browning (called a glaze); adding liquid to lift the glaze from the pot is called deglazing. Additionally, nonstick pans cannot be used at high temperatures. On the other hand, they are easier to clean than other types of pots, and do not often result in burned food. When frying in pans without such a coating, it is usually necessary to use vegetable or animal fat to prevent sticking.

Nonstick coatings tend to degrade over time, and require vigilant care and attention. In order to preserve the nonstick coating of a pan, it is important never to use metal implements in the pan while cooking, or harsh scouring pads or chemical abrasives when cleaning. There is currently some controversy surrounding the use of Teflon and Silverstone, as the decomposition products that they produce at high temperatures can be toxic.

For those who keep birds, most veterinarians will warn that keeping birds in proximity to areas where nonstick cookware is being used can be deathly to birds given their delicate breathing. Nonstick cookware is known to outgas. At least keep the birds in another part of the dwelling that is far away from nonstick cooking areas.

Non-metallic cookware
Non-metallic cookware can be used in both conventional and microwave ovens. Non-metallic cookware typically can't be used on the stovetop, but some kinds of ceramic cookware, for example Corningware, are an exception.

Ceramics
Glazed ceramics, such as porcelain, provide a nonstick cooking surface. Unglazed ceramics, such as terra cotta, have a porous surface that can hold water or other liquids during the cooking process, adding moisture in the form of steam to the food. Particular care must be taken when cooking in unglazed ceramics to ensure that the clay does not contain lead.

Glass
Borosilicate glass, such as Pyrex, is safe at oven temperatures. The clear glass also allows for the food to be seen during the cooking process.

Glass-ceramic
Glass ceramic is used to make products such as Corningware, which have many of the best properties of both glass and ceramic cookware. While Pyrex can shatter if taken between extremes of temperature too rapidly, glass-ceramics can be taken directly from deep freeze to the stovetop. Their near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion makes them almost entirely immune to thermal shock.

Silicone
Silicone bakeware is light, flexible, and able to withstand sustained temperatures of 675°F (360°C) [1]. It melts around 930°F (500°C), depending upon the fillers used. Its flexibility is advantageous in removing baked goods from the pan. This rubbery material is not to be confused with the silicone resin used to make hard, shatterproof children's dishware, which is not suitable for baking.

History Of Cookware & Bakeware

2006-11-30T12:26:00.000+08:00

This tripod vessel with legs in the form of breasts was used for cooking over a fire. These hollow legs were highly functional because their forms provided a large surface area for the pot to contact the fire, distributing the heat evenly as the food cooked. The pot would have served equally well to pour the heated liquid from its beak-like spout. The spout not only suggests a bird's beak, but the pellet of clay also resembles the eye of the bird, making this vessel another example of zoomorphic form. It was coil built, and extra coils were added to create the rope-like handle, and to add the wavy line, almost like a skirt around the unglazed, earthenware vessel. This three-legged form will remain a staple shape throughout later periods of Chinese history.

The history of cooking vessels before the development of pottery is minimal due to the limited archaeological evidence. It has been possible to extrapolate likely developments based on methods used by latter peoples. Among the first of the techniques believed to be used by stone age civilizations were improvements to basic roasting. In addition to exposing food to direct heat from either an open fire or hot embers it is possible to cover the food with clay or large leaves before roasting to preserve moisture in the cooked result. Examples of similar techniques are still in use in many modern cuisines.

Of greater difficulty was finding a method to boil water. For people without access to natural heated water sources, such as hot springs, it was possible to prepare a small pit lined with stones and filled with water. Heated stones could then be placed in the water to raise its temperature. In many locations the shells of turtles or large mollusks provided a source for waterproof cooking vessels. Bamboo tubes sealed at the end with clay would have provided a usable container in Asia, while the inhabitants of the Tehuacan Valley began carving large stone bowls that were permanently set into a hearth as early as 7000 BC. A final cooking vessel available to early civilizations were the stomachs from animals killed by hunters.

The development of earthenware (clay) or ceramic) pottery allowed for the creation of fireproof cooking vessels in a variety of shapes and sizes. Coating the earthenware with some type of plant gum, and later pottery glazes, converted the porous container into a waterproof vessel. The earthenware cookware could then be suspended over a fire through use of a tripod or other apparatus, or even be placed directly into a low fire or coal bed as in the case of the pipkin. Ceramics (including stoneware and glass) conduct poorly, however, so ceramic pots must cook over relatively low heats and over long periods of time (most modern ceramic pots will crack if used on the stovetop, and are only intended for the oven). Even after metal pots have come into widespread use, earthenware pots are still preferred among the less well-off, globally, due to their low production cost.

The development of bronze and iron metalworking skills allowed for cookware made from metal to be manufactured, although adoption of the new cookware was slow due to the much higher cost. After the development of metal cookware there was little new development in cookware, with the standard Medieval kitchen utilizing a cauldron and a shallow earthenware pan for most cooking tasks with a spit employed for roasting.

By the 17th century, it was common for a western kitchen to contain a number of skillets, baking pans, a kettle, and several pots along with a variety of pot hooks, and trivets. In the American colonies, these items would commonly be produced by a local blacksmith from iron while brass or copper vessels were common in Europe and Asia. Improvements in metallurgy during the 19th and 20th centuries allowed for pots and pans from metals such as steel, stainless steel and aluminum to be economically produced.

BakeWhere CookWhere

2006-11-29T11:47:00.000+08:00

Cookware and bakeware are types of food preparation containers commonly found in the kitchen. Cookware comprises cooking vessels, such as saucepans and frying pans, intended for use on a stove or range cooktop. Bakeware comprises cooking vessels intended for use inside an oven. The terms cookware and bakeware are not exclusive, and it is possible for a single utensil to be used as both cookware and bakeware.

There are many types of cookware and bakeware in the market. A carpenter has his own tools to make furnitures. An artists has his sets of favourite brushes and other tools to paint his pictures. A chef's tools will be all the cookware and bakeware, and other cooking utensils. Whether you are a chef or you are a housewife or you are a houseman or just a student, or businessman, when you need to do cooking at home, these are the necessary 'tools' to use. Chefs and housewives will use these cooking 'tools' more often than any others. People who are residing alone will also need to cook at times, and they too need to possess some cookware at home.

Cooking is an art. In order to cook a good meal, you need to have the proper 'tools' first in order to create your master piece of food. It's just like a painter. A painter needs a piece of canvas to paint an oil paint. He may also paint an acrylic paint on a canvas, or he may choose to use water colour paper to paint a water colour paintings. He is the creator of his own masterpieces and he has the option to choose his 'paintwhere' with his 'paintwhat'. Similarly, kitchen is the place where the chef or the cook create his master dishes. Kitchen is the place where all the necessary cooking utensils are found for the cook. For any person who cook in the kitchen, you can choose various types of cookware such as aluminium pots, stainless steel pans, or even calphalon one

After selecting a medium for his paintings, the artist need to put in drawings and colours to the paintings. Similarly, the cook will need to put in all his ingredients in the pots/pans to have a delicious meal. Upon completion of the cooking process, the food will need to be served on plates/bowls. These again will be analogous to a painter who wants to put his paintings into a frame.

When a painter finish painting, he needs to clean up his 'paintware'. His 'paintware' is his daily necessity tools. His 'paintware' is his life's blood, it is his 'metal rice bowl' (if he is an professional artists earning for a living). Similarly, for a chef working in the kitchen and for a housewife who needs to cook for her family, the cookware is of utmost importance. Maintenance of tools is very important for every professionals, be it the artists or the carpenters or the artist or even tailor. When the tailor's scissors are spoilt, he cannot do anymore great masterpieces for his customers.

Just like a painter has his different sets of colours to use for his painting, a cook has his different types of food as his 'colours' for his dishes ('painting' of the cook).

However, maintenance of 'tools' are not easy. In the kitchen, normally after cooking, there are so much washing and scrubbing to be done. It is a tough job where a lot of people fear to do so. It is a dirty job, having to deal with oily pots and black pans and so on. Getting an appropriate tools for your arts creation is important. Just like an artist, if he paints using a 'lousy' brush, no doubt the brush is cheap, he can save a lot of money, but the hair from the brush always drop, will it produce a nice paint? When the hair always drop, will it bring inconvenience to the artist, when the artist need to hand-pick the hair from the paint? Not only will it will inconvenience, the final results will be affected. Similarly, in the kitchen, I feel that it is good to invest in a set of good cookware, such as calphalon cookware, and you can cook your favourite dishes at ease and you can wash up everything with bliss also.

Chinese Soup

2006-11-13T17:29:00.000+08:00

In a Chinese meal, soup is not served at the beginning as in a wesern meal. For family meals, the soup is placed in the centre of the table together with the rice, and diners help themselves between other dishes. (That's why the chinese table is always round)

In a banquet, the soups are brought on as a change of pace between other courses. Some of the soups are light and clear, others are thick and robust in flavour. Some soups are prestige courses -- intended to impress because of the rarity of ingredients and their cost. Sharks fin soup and bird's nest soup fall into this category.

Soup is regarded as important nourishment for new mothers or invalids. Soup can also be a complete light meal when it is a noodle soup or one with dumplings, popularly known as long soup and short soup, respectively. Even the simplest soup should be based on strong stock that is home-made.

Cooking Stock
For chicken stock, use a chicken weighing about 1.5kg and add 2 litres of water, 3-4 slickes of fresh ginger, 2-3 spring onions and 2 teaspoons salt. The chicken should be stripped of extra fat near the tail, the tail removed and discarded. It is then jointed, and carefully washed to remove traces of internal organs and blood. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, and skim the surface until the broth is clear. Cover and cook on very gentle heat for 2 hours or more.

According to your preference, some of the chicken joints may be lifted out after they are just cooked, and used in another dish such as cold chicken with sesame sauce. For the same reasons of economy instead of using a whole chicken, the bones saved from preparing meat for other recipes may be collected and frozen; then when there is sufficient, stock may be made from them. Freeze stock in quantities suited to family requirements and there is always the basis of a good soup on hand.

After the stock has cooked, strain it and add salt to taste. A dash of dry sherry or chinese wine may be added if liked. Chill and remove any fat from the surface, though a little fat may be left to give the soup more richness.

For a meat stock, use 1kg meaty pork bones and proceed as for chicken stock, but use twice as much ginger and spring onions to combat the stronger flavour of the meat. Chill, remove fat from the surface.

Cooking Utensils

2006-11-12T16:45:00.000+08:00

The Kitchen By Carl Larsson

When buying a wok, buy a lid too. It is necessary when braising, simmering or steaming, and should fit snugly inside the wok. Choose a high dome-shaped lid as this will accomodate larger items such as a whole duck or chicken. These lids are generally made from light weight aluminium and dent easily, so treat with care.

Other accessories are a steaming rack or steaming baskets. The former is a simple arrangement of bamboo, wood or metal which holds food above water level. A wire cake rack (round) is a good substitute.

Steaming can be done in a large saucepan if you have one with a well-fitting lid. The plate of food is placed on a trivet or an upturned heatproof bowl to hold it above water level. The plate should be of a size that allows steam to circulate.

For steaming more than one kind of food at a time, it is best to use an aluminium steamer with multiple layers, or a nest of bamboo steamers. The bamboo steamer are particularly useful if you want to cook dim sum -- dumplings, buns and patties. The woven bamboo lid with its natural perforations prevents condensation forming on the inner surface, falling on to the buns and spiling their appearance. This can happen with metal steamers, but placing a clean dry tea towel across the top before covering with the lid solves the problem of condensation.

A sandy pot, or earthenware casserole, is ideal for slow-simmered dishes and is quite picturesque for presenting food in . The outside is a creamy colour and the inside is glazed dark brown. It comes in varying sizes and with one or two handles. It should not be placed over heat without first putting some liquid in it. When ingredients have to be browned first, this is done in a wok and they are then transferred to the pot for simmering.

Then there is the steampot(hotpot) which cooks at the table from live coals piled into its central funnel. Small wire cooking spoons are used to suspend pieces of food in the simmering stock, or wooden chopsticks may be substituted to hold the food as it cooks. An electric deep fryer or electric wok or a tabletop cooker with a vessel on it may be used instead, but for atmoshere and authenticity there's nothing to beat the steamboat itself, even if it is more trouble filling the chimney with live coals than simply plugging in and flicking a switch.

The Wok

2006-11-11T16:27:00.000+08:00

There is no doubt that cooking Chinese food in a wok is as appropriate as eating chinese food with chopsticks. While it is possible to cook Chinese food in other types of pans, the wok was designed specifically for Chinese cooking and really does make it easier. Especially when stir-frying, the high, flaring sides enable food to be stirred and tossed with speed and allows meat to be pressed against the hot metal to seal the surfaces. The food unmistakably tastes better.

Any Chinese cook will confirm that a well-used wok develops what is known as 'wok hay', a sort of character of its own, which adds an extra dimension to food cooked in it, just as the well-aged clay pots used in some other countries give a special flavour to food.

Woks come in many sizes. A 35cm in diameter is suitable for domestic use. It may look large and can cook enough fo r6-8 people. Even if you don't usually cook for that many, consider that whereas you can cook small amounts in a large wok, you can't cook large amounts in a small wok.

Some woks have a long wooden handle, but the original design has two rounded handles and it is easier to use when lifting the wok as the weight is more evenly distributed.

A word about those handles. They do get quite hot in the course of cooking. Chinese chefs use a cloth, folded many times to form a heatproof pad. It becomes second nautre to them to reach for the wok with pads in hand, but for the amateur home cook it takes a bit of practice to remember.

When buying a wok, don't imagine that the most expensive is the best. Forget the stainless steel or aluminium woks, the non-stick linings, all the gimmickry that crops up whenever something becomes popular. These are woks in name only. Look for the original iron woks, or the serviceable enamelled wok. Those intended for use on electric hotplates are heavier in order to make good contact and have a small flat area in the base.

When new, a wok must be cleaned and seasoned. Most iron woks have a coating to prevent them rusting during transportation and storage. This is a stubborn film which must be removed by filling the wok with hot water and adding 2 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda(baking soda); bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. This softens the coating which can then be scrubbed off with a fine scourer. Repeat the process if necessary. This is the first and last time you should scour the wok.

Seasoning the wok
Having cleaned the wok thoroughly, season it. This is very important because it creates a smooth surface which prevents food from sticking, becoming discoloured, or absorbing a metallic taste from the 'raw' metal.

Heat the wok and wipe over the entire inner surface with a wad of kitchen paper dipped in peanut oil. At first, the paper will turn rusty and brown. Repeat with more paper and more oil. After a number of times the paper will not become brown. Allow the wok to cool, rinse it with warm water, then repeat the heating and rubbing with oil as before.

The wok is now ready to cook in. Remember the rule, 'hot wok, warm oil'. Make sure the wok is thoroughly heated before adding the oil, and wait for the oil to become hot before adding ingredients. Then food will not stick to the wok but will slide easily over the surface.

After use, wash the wok in hot water and scrub it gently with a dish sponge. Do not scour with steel wool or scouring powder. If necessary, fill it with hot water and leave it to soak and soften any food that may have cooked on , then scrub with a brush.

The wok should always be completely dry before it is put away. To ensure this, place it over the source of heat until any moisture has completely vapourized.

If not used often, the wok should be wiped over lightly with a piece of kitchen paper dipped in peanut oil to prevent rust, but only after it has been dried over heat. Don't store the wok in a closed cupboard -- it would develop a musty odour. Hang it near the stove, both to keep it in usable condition and to remind you how versatile a utensil it is, for frequent use.

Chinese Cooking Methods

2006-11-10T15:31:00.000+08:00

Home Style Cooking By Linda Carter-Holman

A chinese meal does not feature one main dish, but rather a number of dishes of equal importance. At family meals or for informal entertaining, all the dishes are placed on the table at once. This makes it unnecessary for the hostess to leave the table once the meal has started. Each person has a bit of each dish with rice. Soup is not served at the start of a meal, as in western-style eating, but in banquets is served between other courses. In family-style meals it is placed on the table and everyone helps themselves just as they do with rice. It is not necessary to have one dish for each diner.

Chinese cooking seem difficult at first glance. But there are many cooking methods which are familiar to the western cook -- boiling, braising, stewing, simmering, steaming, deep frying. Not as well known is cooking in stored heat, which takes longer but makes good sense because it saves fuel and yields good results.

Then there is the quick stir-frying method which always fascinates the newcomer to Chinese cooking. It looks very impressive but there is nothing to it except split-second second timing and this is easily mastered with a little practice. All that is necessary is to have every ingredient prepared and ready within reach befrore starting to cook, because there is no time to go looking for a sauce or seasoning once cooking is under way.

It is for this method of cooking, in particular, that food is cut into paper-thin slices or slivers because the cooking time is so short. The principle is that the ingredients which require longer cooking go into the wok first, to be followed in turn by the others. It origniated out of the need to save fuel, and that is as good a reason to use this method today as it was centuries ago.

Then there are recipes in which more than one method is used. This is called cross-cooking or combination cooking. A duck may be steamed until tender, then boned and cut into pieces and deep fried so that the outside is crisp and crackling, the inner portions meltingly soft. Or bite-size pieces of poultry, meat or seafood may be briefly deep fried and set aside, and just before serving they are stir-fried with the other ingredients and seasonings.

What to cook on
Quick, high instantly controllable heat is what makes chinese cooking a pleasure, so gas is therefore the most suitable fuel. But there are ways of using electricity to advantage. One is to buy a flat-bottomed wok -- an invention which takes into account the fact that people in Asian countries who live in modern blocks of flats have to cook with electricity. The flat base gives better contact with the hotplate and prevents wobbling. The high, flaring sides of the wok enable the cook to toss, flip and stir without ingredients being scattered as may happen in a conventional frying pan or skillet.

Electricity is not flexible like gas, and different methods have to be used to achieve the same results. With an electric stove, heat one hotplate on the highest setting, put the wok on it and let it get very hot before adding the oil and ingredients to be cooked. When less heat is needed, lift the wok off the hotplate (turning the heat down would not reduce it quickly enough). If the dish needs simmering after the initial cooking on high heat, have another hotplate ready on simmer setting and transfer the wok to this.

If you can get only round-bottomed woks, use a metal collar or ring which will hold the wok in place and steady it. These rings are sometimes necessary even on gas stoves, depending on the design. It is essential you should feel confident that t he wok is held steady.

The rings are ususally made of anodized aluminium and are constructed with sloping sides so one opening is smaller than the other. There are holes in the ring to allow ventilation. When high heat is required, use the ring with the large opening upwards so that the wok sits close to the source of heat. When simmering, the smaller opening should be uppermost so that the wok is held higher up and further away from the heat.

If cooking for a number of people, remember to cook two batches of the dish rather than double the quanitites. This applies to stir-fried dishes especially, for if too much is added to the wok at a time, the heat will not be sufficient to seal the juices in and the food will stew rather than fry.

Chinese Cooking

2006-11-09T14:06:00.000+08:00

Chinese cooking has long been acknowledged as the most sophisticated of all the great cuisines. It is also the most ingenious.

The amazing variety of ingredients were first used in sheer necessity. The country has always been subject to drought and flood and only a small proportion of the land is suitable for agriculture, so the people have learned to make use of everything edible. Who else but the Chinese have made a delicacy from wood fungus, birds' nests and fish's maw?

Chinese food should appeal to all the senses. First there is visual impact. Colour and form are considered in the combination of ingredients and the shapes they are cut into. On special occasions, the Chinese delight in garnishes made from vegetables and representing flowers, butterflies, birds or animals. The fragrance of a dish is important, for before the food can give pleasure by its taste, it should whet the appetite with its aroma.

Some dishes are prized for the noise they make -- such as sizzling rice. But it has other attractions -- the crispness of the rice itself and the flavour of the sauce served with it.

A dissertation on texture ingredients in a classic essay on Chinese gastronomy differentiates between crunchy, smooth, elastic, chewy, soft, resilient, spongy, melting, grainy, unctuous, fibrous, gelatinous. Many of these qualities would be lost on even the most discerning western gourmet. Some of the most highly regarded foods are totally devoid of flavour but are prized because of their texture. Skilful cooking imbues them with appeal from the seasonings they are combined with.

Finally, and most important of all, is the taste of the food. There are many effects to strive for. Some dishes are supposed to be light, delicate and natural in flavour but without being insipid. Others are prized for their rich, concentrated flavour.

Pumpkin Carving

2006-10-18T13:02:00.000+08:00

Pumpkin carving is one of the fun traditions of Halloween. It usually takes the form of a party or a family event, and is frequently finished off with some hot, crisp pumpkin seeds fresh out of the oven.

Preparation and cleaning
When selecting pumpkins for carving, lighter colored ones carve easier, as they are softer. The downside is they do not last as long. Pick a pumpkin with a nice stem and a carvable face.

Clean the pumpkins off outside by washing them off with plain water and a sponge. Allow to dry. Keep the pumpkin outside, or in a cool place, until you are ready to carve it.

Cut open the top of the pumpkin and clean out the inside seeds and and guts. Be careful not to pull hard on the stem as it breaks easily.

Carving
Select your design. Keep the design simple The fewer curves, angles, and cuts, the better the result.

We recommend a pumpkin carving knife. It is designed for carving pumpkins, and is less likely to cause injury.

Once you have mastered carving a pumpkin, you can graduate to a pumpkin carving design, or create your own. There are a wide variety of designs and are limited only by your imagination. To use a design,:

Buy or make your own.
Pick one that is sized for your pumpkin. Enlarge or shrink it on a copier if need be.
Transfer the design to the pumpkin. You can trace it with a small knife, a nail, a marker or a pencil.
Slowly begin to cut out the pattern.
Slow is the operative word, as a mistake in carving can alter or ruin the outcome.

Pumpkin Carving Tips

Select a pumpkin that is ripe, has no bruises, cuts or nicks. Do not carry a pumpkin by its stem; it may break, and do not bruise it as it will not last as long. For easy cleanup, place your pumpkin on several layers of newspaper before carving.

Make sure the hole is large enough to reach in and pull out the seeds and stringy membrane. The bottom of the pumpkin could also be cut off instead, this will allow the pumpkin to sit up straight and make removing the seeds easier! When cleaning out the pumpkin, use and old soup ladle to get out the seeds. Try carving a giant pumpkin, it is easier to carve than a regular pumpkin.

Examine your pumpkin to determine the best place to carve his or her face. Draw an outline of a face on a plain sheet of white paper (use simple bold features), or print one of our handy Jack O'Lantern templates (samples of the templates surround these instructions - click on any of the images to go to the full-sized print-ready template). Tape your paper to the pumpkin where you want the face to be. Score the design onto the pumpkin by punching through the paper into the pumpkin with a large nail or pin.

Carefully cut out the design following the holes that were "punched" with your plastic knife. When you are finished cutting, simply push out the pieces to view the final results. Now you're all set to light up your home on Halloween night!

Safety tips:

Here are some simple tips which will help to make your pumpkin carving safe:

Do not let a young child use a knife.

Always point knives away from you.

Keep your free hand away from the direction of the knife.

Use slicing motions and never force the knife.

When using candles to light your Jack O'Lantern, do not leave it unattended. For indoor lighting, we reccomend battery operated lights.

Life Span
Depending on your local weather conditions during the month of October, an un-treated, carved pumpkin can have a life span any were of from a week to only a day.

The best way to make a carved pumpkin last longer is to slow down the dehydration process and deter the on-set of mold. When pumpkins shrivel up, it's because they have lost moisture.

You can sometimes restore them back to their original condition by soaking them in water overnight.

One technique is to coat all cut surfaces of the pumpkin with petroleum jelly immediately after they have been carved. This includes a light coating of the entire inside of the pumpkin. If you can't do the whole inside, at least try to coat the design that you've cut into the pumpkin.

The petroleum jelly acts as a barrier to seal in the pumpkins internal moisture to help slow down the dehydration process of the pumpkin. You can use a finger to coat the eyes, nose and mouth but you may want to use a paper towel with jelly on it to coat the inside. It's less messy that way.

Another way to keep them fresh is to use a pumpkin dip that is available at most grocery stores or stands that sell pumpkins during the Halloween season. Pumpkin dip is mixed with water in a large container and the pumpkins are submerged in it, sometimes over night, in order to preserve them. This is a tedious and messy way to keep your pumpkins fresh as you have to do it every night after they have been carved.

HISTORY OF PUMPKIN CARVING

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Without a doubt the most recognizable symbol of Halloween is a pumpkin carved into a jack-o-lantern.

For most of the general population it is known as Halloween and is a night for dressing up, telling ghost stories, having spooky parties, trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving. What most people don't know is that Halloween is actually based on an ancient Celtic holiday known as Samhain (pronounced "sow wan"), which means "summer's end".

It was the end of the Celtic year, starting at sundown on October 31st and going through to sundown November 1st. It was a night to honor loved ones that had passed on since the veil between their realm and ours is at it's thinnest on that night.

Celebrated for centuries by the Celts of old, Witches and many other nature based religions, it is the most magical night of the year. It is the Witches' New Year, and the Last Harvest. Although the religious significance of it has passed for the general public, Halloween is a "magical" night for all!

On this magical night, glowing jack-o-lanterns, carved from turnips or gourds, were set on porches and in windows to welcome deceased loved ones, but also to act as protection against malevolent spirits. Burning lumps of coal were used inside as a source of light, later to be replaced by candles.

When European settlers, particularly the Irish, arrived in American they found the native pumpkin to be larger, easier to carve and seemed the perfect choice for jack-o-lanterns. Halloween didn't really catch on big in this country until the late 1800's and has been celebrated in so many ways ever since!

Pumpkins are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus. In 1584, the French explorer Jacques Cartier reported from the St. Lawrence region that he had found "gros melons", which was translated into English as "ponpions," or pumpkins. In fact, pumpkins have been grown in America for over 5,000 years. Native Americans called pumpkins "isquotersquash."

Did you know that pumpkins are not a vegetable - they are a fruit! Pumpkins, like gourds, and other varieties of squash are all members of the Cucurbitacae family , which also includes cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.

Traditional Pumpkin Carving
A well carved pumpkin will impress your friends, neighbors and best of all, you're trick-or-treaters!

Carving a pumpkin into a Jack-O'-Lantern freehand is the traditional way of doing it, is very easy and only takes a few basic tools. A large spoon or ice-cream scoop, a thin bladed knife and some newspaper will get you started.

With a long, thin bladed knife, cut out the top of the pumpkin around the stem of the pumpkin. The hole should be large enough to allow you to scoop out the guts (seeds and stringy membrane) by hand and with a large spoon. Generally, the size of the hole should be about two-thirds the diameter of the pumpkin. While you can cut a round circle out, you'll find that cutting a five or six sided opening will work the best. As you cut out the top hole, angle the knife so that the lid and hole will be somewhat cone shaped. This will help prevent the lid from falling into the hole. Now you can use a large spoon to scrap the inside walls of the pumpkin clean.

Inspect the surface of the pumpkin to decide the best side to carve you face. Now, visualizing the face you want to carve, use your knife to carefully cut out the individual parts of the face or you can pre-marked the pumpkin by using a Crayon to draw the face onto the surface of the pumpkin and cut through the lines you drew. When you are finished cutting, carefully push out the pieces to view the final results.

Make sure that you have scrapped the bottom of the pumpkin flat, so that the candle will sit level in the pumpkin. We prefer the traditional use of candles to illuminate our Jack-O'-Lanterns. A Votive candle, placed in a clear glass candle holder is safer and will actually last longer. Also, plain white candles give off the most light and will illuminate the inside of your Jack-O'-Lantern the best.

Uses Of Pumpkin

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Pumpkins belong to the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and gourds. Within this family is the genus Cucurbita which includes all varieties of pumpkin. Pumpkins are available in all shapes, colours and sizes, but one of the best known is the Jack 'O Lantern pumpkin C. Pepo, which can weigh as much as 100 pounds and is popular for carving at Halloween.

The most popular use of pumpkins may be for jack-o-lanterns and fall decorations, but there are many more healthful ways pumpkin can be used. When eaten, pumpkin provides vitamin A, potassium, protein, and vitamin C. Pumpkin is also low in calories.

Pumpkin In Cooking

When selecting a pumpkin, make sure there are no blemishes or decay spots and that there is a bit of the stem left in place. Store the pumpkin in a cool dry place and it will last for the winter.

However, pumpkin is highly perishable and must be cooked the same day it is cut open. Otherwise, orange flesh will develop a feathery black mold. Cooked pumpkin should be chilled immediately.

When choosing a pumpkin for cooking, choose a small pumpkin that weighs between two and six pounds. Look for one that has one or two inches of stem left. Pumpkins with shorter stems decay more quickly. Choose a pumpkin that has a rich orange color with skin that cannot be easily broken or scratched by your fingernail.

If you want your pumpkin to have multiple uses, you can first paint a funny face on it for a decoration using non-toxic paints. After the holiday, you can wash and cook it. When selecting a pumpkin for cooking, “pie pumpkin” or “sweet pumpkin” is a good choice but the jack-o-lantern variety also works just fine for eating. For every pound of whole pumpkin, you can expect to get one cup of pumpkin puree.

To maximize the use of your pumpkin, start by removing the stem with a sharp knife. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and scrape the stringy part away. Wash the seeds in warm water and spread them out to dry. To roast, spray pan with oil and spread seeds thinly on the pan. Salt, or any seasoning that appeals to you (cheesy popcorn or cajun seasoning) can be sprinkled on. Bake in a 250 degree oven 15-20 minutes.

There are three ways to prepare the pumpkin so you can get pumpkin puree. To bake it, cut the pumpkin in half and place the pumpkin, cut side down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until fork tender or about an hour. To microwave it, place the cut side of half of the pumpkin on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for fifteen minutes or until fork tender. To boil, cut the pumpkin into large chunks and rinse in cold water. Place the chunks in a large pot in about an inch of water. Cover the pot and boil for 20-30 minutes until tender. To make the puree, cool and peel the pumpkin and use a food processor, blender, ricer or a potato masher.

Pumpkin puree can be used in any recipe in which you use purchased pumpkin. Pumpkin puree can be frozen at 0 degrees for up to one year. If you run out of time and energy before you start the puree process remember, pumpkins can be stored for several months if kept at 50-55 degrees in a dry airy place.

Pumpkins can be diced into chunks, steamed as a vegetables, spiced with nutmeg to enhance the flavor and served as a side vegetable to any dish. Pumpkins can also be mixed with a variety of fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears and rhubarb. Grains and pumpkins complement one another and work together to create delicious casseroles.

Pumpkins can be used in a vast variety of dishes:

Pot pie -- Add pumpkin to hashed meat with apples, pears, rhubarb or other fruits.

Casserole -- Combine with rice and mince green pepper in a thick white cheese sauce.

Soup -- Add pureed carrots, sliced onions and leeks, chopped celery and parsley to pumpkin.

Souffle -- Mix pumpkin with white sauce, eggs and cheese.

Instead of throwing away the seeds, try them as a snack. Wash the seeds well. Spread them in a single layer on cookie sheet to dry. Then, roast them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes or until they are dry. Dot with butter and brown for 5 to 10 minutes 400 degrees. Stir often until toasted. Sprinkle with salt, cool and serve.

Pumpkin Recipes

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1. Make a congee

First to use the rice to make congee, then pumpkin peel the skin then cut little block, put it in the boiling water to cook, after that take out the pumpkin and mix with congee and add some sugar, you can eat it.

2. Make a soup

Ingredient: Chicken, Pumpkin, Root of pueraria, Morinda officinalis, Ginger, Leek, Salt, Pepper

Making: Pumpkin to peel the skin, and the chicken to cut slice. Put them in the cold water, when water boiling then take it out, after that take chicken ,pumpkin, root of pueraria, morinad officinalis, ginger, leek , salt, pepper into the pot to stew, about 1:30-2:00 hours, the soup is then ready.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:

16 ounces	Pumpkin(canned or fresh pureed)
13.75 ounces	Chicken Broth
1	Large Onion
2	Carrots(Wheels or Diced)
2 cups	half and half or evaporated milk
1/4 cup	Sour Cream
1/8 teaspoon	Pepper
1 teaspoon	Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon	Baking Soda
1/3 teaspoon(or less)	Salt
4 teaspoons	Artificial Bacon Bits

Preparation Directions:

In a large pot add, chicken broth, onions, carrot, baking soda, salt and pepper.
Simmer uncovered for ten to fifteen minutes until carrots are soft.
Optional: Put vegetable and broth into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
Return to pot.
Add pumpkin and half and half.
Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Pour into soup crocks or soup bowls.
Top with sour cream and artificial bacon bits.

4. Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

1cup	All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup	Pumpkin puree fresh cooked or canned
1 Tbs.	Sugar
1 cup	2% Milk
2	Eggs, separated
2 Tsp.	Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp.	Salt (use less if on a low sodium diet)
1/2 Tsp.	Ground Cinnamon
2 Tbs.	Vegetable Oil

Preparation Directions:

Combine dry ingredients and spices in a bowl.
In a second bowl, whisk together, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, milk, and vegetable oil.
Stir wet ingredient into dry ingredients.
Use a mixer to beat egg whites until peaks form. Then, fold them into the batter.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a greased griddle and cook until golden brown.
Serve with syrup.

Cooking Pumpkins

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Selecting a Pumpkin
The most popular use of pumpkins is for decoration as jack-o-lanterns.

For cooking, you want a pumpkin that is heavy for its size. The lighter ones are drier, with a bigger open space in the middle. For the most part, stay away from the large pumpkins when selecting a pumpkin for eating – 2-5 lbs is about right. The best selection is a "pie pumpkin" or "sweet pumpkin." These are smaller than the large jack-o-lantern pumpkins and the flesh is sweeter and less watery. However, you can substitute the jack-o-lantern variety with fairly good results.

Look for a pumpkin with 1 to 2 inches of stem left. If the stem is cut down too low the pumpkin will decay quickly or may be decaying at the time of purchase. Avoid pumpkins with blemishes and soft spots. It should be heavy, shape is unimportant. A lopsided pumpkin is not necessarily a bad pumpkin. Figure one pound of raw, untrimmed pumpkin for each cup finished pumpkin puree.

Storing The Pumpkin
Pumpkins can keep for a long time in a cool (ideally 50-60 degrees) dry place. Put newspapers underneath just in case though! Once the pumpkin is cut open, you need to use it within a couple of days (or freeze it) as it can mold quickly. Cooked, it’s fine in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Preparing the Pumpkin
Spread newspaper over your work surface. Start by removing the stem with a sharp knife. If you are planning to roast the pumpkin seeds, smash the pumpkin against a hard surface to break it open. If not, cut in half with a sharp knife. In any case, remove the stem and scoop out the seeds and scrape away all of the stringy mass. A messy job, but it will pay off.

Cooking the Pumpkin
Boiling/Steaming Method: Cut the pumpkin into rather large chunks. Rinse in cold water. Place pieces in a large pot with about a cup of water. The water does not need to cover the pumpkin pieces. Cover the pot and boil for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender, or steam for 10 to 12 minutes. Check for doneness by poking with a fork. Drain the cooked pumpkin in a colander. Reserve the liquid to use as a base for soup.

Oven Method: Cut pumpkin in half, scraping away stringy mass and seeds. Rinse under cold water. Place pumpkin, cut side down on a large cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for one hour or until fork tender.

Microwave Method: Cut pumpkin in half, place cut side down on a microwave safe plate or tray. Microwave on high for 15 minutes, check for doneness. If necessary continue cooking at 1-2 minute intervals until fork tender.

Preparing the Puree
When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, remove the peel using a small sharp knife and your fingers. Put the peeled pumpkin in a food processor and puree or use a food mill, ricer, strainer or potato masher to form a puree.

Pumpkin puree freezes well. To freeze, measure cooled puree into one cup portions, place in ridged freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace or pack into zip closure bags. Label, date and freeze at 0°F for up to one year.

Use this puree in recipes or substitute in the same amount in any recipe calling for solid pack canned pumpkin.

How to eat them?
Before using, rinse off any dirt.
Cutting the pumpkin may be challenging, use a large knife with a long handle.
Once cut in small pieces, you can then remove the seeds, the fibers and the skin.
You can also cook the whole pumpkin and cut and peel it afterwards. Make some holes in the pumpkin and place it the oven until the skin caramelized.

The pumpkin can be boiled or steamed until tender.
You can then smash it into a puree or a soup.
Shredded or diced, the pumpkin can be sauted in an oiled skillet and served as a side dish.

Handling Pumpkin Seeds Pumpkin seeds are not a commonly allergenic food and are not known to contain measurable amounts of goitrogens, oxalates, or purines. They are generally available in prepackaged containers as well as bulk bins. Just as with any other food that you may purchase in the bulk section, make sure that the bins containing the pumpkin seeds are covered and that the store has a good product turnover so as to ensure the seeds' maximal freshness. Whether purchasing pumpkin seeds in bulk or in a packaged container, make sure that there is no evidence of moisture or insect damage and that they are not shriveled. If it is possible to smell the pumpkin seeds, do so in order to ensure that they are not rancid or musty.

Pumpkin seeds should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. While they may stay edible for several months, they seem to lose their peak freshness after about one to two months.

Tips for Preparing Pumpkin Seeds:

While most stores sell pumpkin seeds, it is fun and easy to make your own. To do so, first remove the seeds from the pumpkin's inner cavity and wipe them off with a paper towel if needed to remove excess pulp that may have stuck to them. Spread them out evenly on a paper bag and let them dry out overnight.

Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and light roast them in a 160-170ºF (about 75ºC) oven for 15-20 minutes. By roasting them for a short time at a low temperature you can help to preserve their healthy oils.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas:

Add pumpkin seeds to healthy sautéed vegetables.

Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top of mixed green salads.

Grind pumpkin seeds with fresh garlic, parsley and cilantro leaves. Mix with olive oil and lemon juice for a tasty salad dressing.

Add chopped pumpkin seeds to your favorite hot or cold cereal.

Add pumpkin seeds to your oatmeal raisin cookie or granola recipe.

Next time you make burgers, whether it be from vegetables, turkey or beef, add some ground pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin Nutrition

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Pumpkin is a member of the Cucurbita family (which also includes squash and cucumbers). It is one of those vegetables that is almost emblematic of fall – it makes us think of harvest, of holidays, of frost, of lengthening nights and the oncoming winter. And yet, the only way it usually gets to the table is in a store-bought pie, or perhaps a can of pie filling that goes in a pie we made ourselves. But pumpkin can be so much more - and since pumpkin keeps for 6 months whole or for years in a can, it can be a year-round addition to our diets.

Pumpkins are 90% water. While this may seem surprising, many fruits and vegetables are largely water.

The bright orange color of pumpkin is a dead giveaway that pumpkin is loaded with an important antioxidant, beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to vitamin A, beta carotene performs many important functions in overall health. It’s also a good source of Vitamins C, K, and E, and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron.

Current research indicates that a diet rich in foods containing beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer and offers protect against heart disease. Beta-carotene offers protection against other diseases as well as some degenerative aspects of aging.

Pumpkin seeds are high in protein, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper and essential fatty acids. Pumpkin seeds can also be eaten dried. Pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas, are loaded with minerals, seem to have an anti-inflammatory effect, and may even help protect against prostate cancer and osteoporosis. They are actually very healthy and are used in the treatment of many illnesses such as kidney, prostate and gallbladder problems. They also help remove tapeworm and roundworm from our intestines when we are infested. A quarter cup has about 5 grams of effective carbohydrate and 1.5 grams of fiber.

According to the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, pumpkin seeds are more than half (by weight) fat. But more than 80 percent of that fat is "good fat" -- the polyunsaturated kind that helps support the cardiovascular system by maintaining a healthy cholesterol level. Vitamin E also has a positive effect on heart and circulatory system.

The high concentration of zinc in pumpkin seeds helps maintain a healthy bladder and urinary system. Germany's Commission E -- a scientific committee that collects data on herbal medicine and evaluates its safety and efficacy -- has approved using pumpkin seeds for bladder problems. Especially important for older men, the American Medical Association reports that the zinc and vitamin E in pumpkin seeds may help maintain a healthy prostate, and reduce symptoms of benign prostate hyperplasia.

But perhaps the most time-tested use for pumpkin seeds is to eliminate intestinal parasites. Long a folk remedy -- from 1863 to 1936, the United States Pharmacopoeia listed pumpkin seeds as the preferred medicine for parasitic infection -- this use has a medical basis. Pumpkin seeds are the only seeds of the Cucurbita family to contain the amino acid cucurbitin, an active ingredient that is believed to paralyze intestinal parasites and expel them from the body. This same ingredient also is good forcontrolling intestinal bacteria, which can cause rectal itching. And even if this particular problem is something you'd rather not think about, be aware that medical researchers have acknowledged that parasites are a contributing factor to a variety of diseases and conditions, including Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, arthritis and rheumatoid symptoms, chronic fatigue syndrome and Epstein-Barr virus.

Pumpkin seeds can be eaten raw or roasted. A handful three times a day is a good "dose." But if you'd rather not snack, pumpkin seed oil -- found as an extract or as an ingredient in nutritional supplements -- offers the same benefits.

Pumpkin seed oil is not made from those seeds but from Styrian pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo).
These pumpkins have a yellow/green skin and yellow/orange flesh inside. Their seeds are dark green and have no shell. They are easily processed into pumpkin seed oil after drying.
The oil made from these seeds is reputed for its healthy benefits. Fresh oil contains more than 60% unsaturated fatty acids. (29 % of mono unsaturated and 51 % of poly unsaturated fatty acids). Its benefits include regulating cholesterol levels and aiding in the prevention and treatment of bladder and prostate problems.

Pumpkin Nutrition Facts
(1 cup cooked, boiled, drained, without salt)

Calories 49
Protein 2 grams
Carbohydrate 12 grams
Dietary Fiber 3 grams
Calcium 37 mg
Iron 1.4 mg
Magnesium 22 mg
Potassium 564 mg

Zinc 1 mg
Selenium .50 mg
Vitamin C 12 mg
Niacin 1 mg
Folate 21 mcg
Vitamin A 2650 IU
Vitamin E 3 mg

Here's some stats on what's in one cup of pumpkin puree:

Calories: 80
Carbohydrates: 19 gram
Cholesterol: 0
Fat: less than 1 gram
Potassium: 588 milligrams
Protein: 2.4 grams
Vitamin A: 310% of RDA
Vitamin C: 20% of RDA

Centuries before the pilgrims arrived in North America, Native Americans were using pumpkin seeds not just as food, but also for medicinal purposes. Colonial settlers quickly followed suit, relying on pumpkin seeds to help a variety of ailments, from kidney problems to "female ills." These days, pumpkins generally are relegated to harvest festivals, Halloween, and holiday pie-making, and the seeds are often tossed away. But as the early Americans came to realize, the power of the pumpkin lies in the seeds it contains.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that the seedsof cucurbita plants are particularly nutrient-dense -- they're an excellent natural source of zinc, iron, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium; vitamins A, E and the B-complex; omega-3 and omega-6, also known as essential fatty acids; and the beneficial polyunsaturated fattyacid, linolenic acid. The nutrients in pumpkin seeds can guard and improve your health in a number of ways.

History Of Pumpkin

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References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

History Of Halloween

The observance of Halloween, which dates back to Celtic rituals thousands of years ago, has long been associated with images of witches, ghosts, devils and hobgoblins. In the United States, the first official citywide Halloween celebration occurred in Anoka, Minn., in 1921. Over the years, Halloween customs and rituals have changed dramatically. Today, many of the young and "young-at-heart" take a more light-spirited approach. They don scary disguises or ones that may bring on smiles when they go door-to-door for treats or attend or host a Halloween party.

History Of The Jack-o-Lantern

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack."

According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o’lanterns.

Pumpkin Facts

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The largest fruits in the world are giant pumpkins, specially grown and bred for their size. The largest ones can weigh over 1,000 pounds! Growing giant pumpkins is a fine art, and there are many different ideas about how to do it best. Many growers keep their methods secret. Some use heating cables to protect against cold weather, or special fertilizers for maximum growth. Giant pumpkin vines are pampered and watched carefully.

Pumpkins are not vegetables... they're fruits!

Pumpkins originated in Central America.

The name pumpkin orginated from "pepon" – the Greek word for "large melon."

Pumpkins, gourds, and other varieties of squash are all members of the family Cucurbitacae, which also includes cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.

Pumpkins have been grown in America for over 5,000 years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere and were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.

Native Americans called pumpkins "isqoutm squash."

In 1584, the French explorer Jacques Cartier reported from the St. Lawrence region that he had found "gros melons", which was translated into English as "ponpions", or pumpkins.

There was probably some kind of pumpkin served at the first Thanksgiving Feast. Pumpkins and other forms of squash made up one leg of the triad maize, beans, and squash -- that once formed the basic diet of American Indians.

Pumpkin seeds are planted in groups called hills. The pumpkins are green or yellow when they are immature. They are not harvested until the skin is orange and tough, about 120 days after seeding, and they must be picked before a heavy frost occurs.

Pumpkin seeds can be roasted as a snack.
Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.
Pumpkins are used for feed for animals.
Pumpkin flowers are edible.
Pumpkins are used to make soups, pies and breads.
The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

Pumpkins range in size from less than a pound to over 1,000 pounds.
The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.
Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
In colonial times, Native Americans roasted long strips of pumpkin in an open fire.
Colonists sliced off pumpkin tops; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.
Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.

Growing Pumpkin

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Pumpkin is a warm-season vegetable that can be grown throughout much of the United States. Besides being used as jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween, pumpkins are used to make pumpkin butter, pies, custard, bread, cookies and soup.

Pumpkins grow in the field on plants which have long sprawling vines that cover the ground.

Pumpkins are a good source of nutrition. They are low in calories, fat and sodium and high in fiber. They are loaded with vitamins A and B and potassium. The seeds are very high in protein and are an excellent source of B vitamins and iron.

When to Plant

Pumpkin is a very tender vegetable. The seeds do not germinate in cold soil, and the seedlings are injured by frost. Do not plant until all danger of frost has passed, and the soil has thoroughly warmed. Plant pumpkins for Halloween from late May in northern locations to early July in extremely southern sites. If pumpkins are planted too early, they may soften and rot before Halloween.

Pumpkin seeds are planted in the field from the last week of May to the middle of June. After seeds are planted, they will sprout (germinate) in 7 to 10 days, depending on the variety. During this time, see

ds need moisture and warmth. Once seeds have germinated, they will send up their first leaves, called seed leaves.

Next, the true leaves will appear. Yellow flowers (blossoms) begin to appear after the first three weeks of growth. Male flowers, which produce pollen, are seen first. About a week later, the femal blossoms follow. Female blossoms are easy to spot, because they have tiny pumpkins at their base. Blossoms live for only a half day, and will not open in cold, rainy weather. When both male and female blossoms appear on the vine, bees transfer the pollen from the males to the females. This is called pollination.

Once pollinated, the fruit at the base of the female blossom develops into a full-sized pumpkin. During this time, the plant continues to produce blossoms. The pumpkin contains seeds which can be saved to grow new pumpkins the following year. While growing, pumpkins require a lot of moisture and sunlight. It takes about 90-120 days (depending on the variety) for a pumpkin to grow after it has been planted. Pumpkins are picked in October when they are bright orange in color.

Spacing and Depth

Vining pumpkins require a minimum of 50 to 100 square feet per hill. Plant seeds one inch deep (four or five seeds per hill). Allow 5 to 6 feet between hills, spaced in rows 10 to 15 feet apart. When the young plants are well-established, thin each hill to the best two or three plants.

Plant semi-bush varieties one inch deep (four or five seeds per hill) and thin to the best two plants per hill. Allow 4 feet between hills and 8 feet between rows.

Plant miniature varieties one inch deep, with two or three seeds every 2 feet in the row. Rows should be 6 to 8 feet apart, with se

edlings thinned to the best plant every 2 feet when they have their first true leaves.

Plant bush varieties one inch deep (1 or 2 seeds per foot of row) and thin to a single plant every 3 feet. Allow 4 to 6 feet between rows.

Care

Pumpkin plants should be kept free from weeds by hoeing and shallow cultivation. Irrigate if an extended dry period occurs in early summer. Pumpkins tolerate short periods of hot, dry weather pretty well.

Bees, that are necessary for pollinating squash and pumpkins, may be killed by insecticides. When insecticides are used, they should be applied only in late afternoon or early evening when the blossoms have closed for the day and bees are no longer visiting the blossoms. As new blossoms open each day and bees land only inside the open blossoms, these pollinating insects should be safe from contact with any potentially deadly sprays.

Harvesting

Pumpkins can be harvested whenever they are a deep, solid color (orange for most varieties) and the rind is hard. If vines remain healthy, harvest in late September or early October, before heavy frosts. If vines die prematurely from disease or other causes, harvest the mature fruit and store them in a moderately warm, dry place until Halloween. Cut pumpkins from the vines carefully, using pruning shears or a sharp knife and leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached. Snapping the stems from the vines results in many broken or missing "handles." Pumpkins without stems usually do not keep well. Wear gloves when harvesting fruit because many varieties have sharp prickles on their stems.

Avoid cutting and bruising the pumpkins when handling them. Fruits that are not fully mature or that have been injured or subjected to heavy frost do not keep. Store in a dry building where the temperature is between 50 and 55°F.

Common Problems

Powdery mildew causes a white, powdery mold growth on the upper surfaces of the leaves. The growth can kill the leaves prematurely and interfere with proper ripening.

Cucumber beetles and squash bugs attack seedlings, vines and both immature and mature fruits. Be alert for an infestation of cucumber beetles and squash bugs, as populations build in late summer, because these insects can damage the mature fruits, marring their appearance and making them less likely to keep properly.

OLIVE OIL AND YOUR HEALTH

2006-05-25T18:02:00.000+08:00

Olive Oil contains a good amount of vitamin E, provitamin A (carotene), monounsaturated (oleic) fatty acids, polyunsaturated (linolenic) fatty acids, a small amount of saturated fatty acids and 9 calories per gram. The human body can produce most of the fatty acids found in foods but it cannot make either oleic or linolenic acids which are called essential fatty acids. Olive oil contains both of these making it a valuable and important dietary supplement.

In the 1960s, it was found that the people of Greece (Crete) consumed a great deal of salt and fat (but also plant food). Surprisingly, they were living longer than the Japanese, who were also eating a lot of salt but whose diet was low in fat and lower in plant foods. This longevity was mainly due to much lower rates of stroke and stomach cancer among the Greeks, as well as low rates of heart disease and other cancers. Researchers also noticed that people living in countries around the Mediterranean had a lower incidence of heart disease, despite their high intake of mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive oil. This led to investigations into what is known as 'the Mediterranean diet', of which olive oil is a major part.

Recent studies into the health benefits of olive oil have found that it can lower the risk of coronary heart disease by reducing blood cholesterol levels. According to one study, a person's risk of fatal heart attack is halved in just two to four years, once they switch to 'the Mediterranean diet', which includes using olive oil as the main dietary fat, increasing vegetable intake and limiting meat and dairy foods. Research has also found that olive oil may influence body fat distribution, with less fat stored around the stomach.

There are three types of fat: saturated, polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated. Each type consists of fatty acids, which are chains of carbon and hydrogen molecules, in varying combinations. Both polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats can lower blood cholesterol levels. Olive oil is a mono-unsaturated fat. Other foods containing mostly mono-unsaturated fats include avocado, canola oil and peanuts.

Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) is considered the 'bad' cholesterol. This is because it can stick to artery walls, causing atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Studies into LDL cholesterol have suggested that oxidation is an important step in the development of atherosclerosis. It seems that mono-unsaturated fats reduce the capacity of LDL cholesterol to oxidise, which may explain the protective properties of olive oil. However, extra virgin olive oil also contains around 40 antioxidant phytochemicals.

Antioxidants have been associated with reduced oxidation of LDL cholesterol, so perhaps these phytochemicals are the factors responsible for the health benefits. In one study, extra virgin olive oil was found to prevent the most LDL oxidation compared to other varieties.

Once a fatty meal is eaten, it takes the liver around six to 12 hours to scour dietary fats from the blood and change them into compounds such as LDL and HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol. There is evidence that this six to 12 hour period may be a crucial contributing factor in atherosclerosis. Mono-unsaturated fats like olive oil are cleared from the blood much faster than saturated fats, and this reduces the window of opportunity for the development of atherosclerosis. Mono-unsaturated fats also help to prevent the blood from becoming sticky after a fatty meal and forming dangerous clots.

Mono-unsaturated fats have the same kilojoule content as other fats (around 37kj per gram); however, some research suggests that it may be more difficult to put on weight from mono-unsaturated fats. Researchers compared the weight loss results from one group of people, following 'the Mediterranean diet', to another group who were sticking to low fat and high carbohydrate diets. They found that those following the Mediterranean diet shed excess pounds from both the upper and lower body, but the other group mainly lost fat from the lower body. People who store their body fat around the waist and abdomen ('apple shaped') have a higher risk of heart disease than those people who carry their weight at the hips and thighs ('pear shaped').

Olive oil is thought to offer a number of other health benefits, including reduced risk of some cancers (such as breast cancer), reduced risk of diabetes, and possibly a delayed onset of complications in established diabetes.

Information About Olive Oil

2006-05-24T17:51:00.000+08:00

TYPES OF OLIVE OIL
Generally, olive oil is extracted by pressing or crushing olives. Olive oil comes in different varieties, depending on the amount of processing involved, the method used, and the quality of the fruit. Varieties include:

Extra virgin – considered the best, generally comprising of oil from the first pressing of top quality olives

Virgin – from the second pressing or lower quality olives

Ordinary virgin/Pure – from lower quality olives, often undergoes some processing, such as filtering and refining, still fit for human consumption

Light/Extra light – undergoes considerable processing and filtering, retains a very mild olive flavour. Fit for human consumption

Lampante – for refining or technical use, not fit for human consumption,also used as a fuel to light candles

HOW OLIVE OIL IS CLASSIFIED
Olive oil undergoes both chemical and smell/taste tests to determine its grade or classification. The oil is tested for taste and aroma. These are known as the organoleptic qualities of the oil. Chemical testing consists of testing for free fatty acid content in the oil, and peroxide content of the oil. These test results reflect the quality of the oil, and the olives it was produced from, and can also give an indication of storage and production methods. Oils which have been produced from poor quality olives or by the excessive use of heat, will have higher acid and peroxide test results. The same can be said for oil which is stored in contact with heat, light and outside air, or simply oil which is too old and is breaking down.

Extra virgin – must have perfect taste and aroma, a free fatty acid content under 0.8% and a peroxide value below 20.

Virgin – high standards of aroma and flavour, and a free fatty acid content under 2%

Ordinary virgin/Pure – some standard of aroma and flavour and a free fatty acid content between 2 and 3.3%

Light/Extra light – mild aroma and flavour when compared to higher grades of oil, with a free fatty acid content under 3.3%

Lampante – free fatty acid content of over 3.3%

HOW OLIVE OIL IS PRODUCED
Olive oil is obtained from the fruit of the olive tree by pressing or crushing olives, and then seperating the desired olive oil from the rest of the olive fruit. No other ingredients are added. Traditionally, hand operated pressed were used, but due to the manual labour required and slow production capabilities, these have made way for modern processing equipment, sometimes referred to as continuous processing plants, which can process many tonnes of fruit per hour.

The term 'continuous' refers to the fact that olives are added at one end and oil comes out of the other in a mechanized process with no manual labour involved. There are many manufactures of processing plants with slightly different methods used to seperate the oil from the fruit, but they all follow the same basic formula: typically the olives are washed, then crushed to produce a paste. The oil is then separated from the rest of the paste with decanters which generally use centrifugal force. The paste is spun at high speeds in these decanters and the heavy waste products seperate from the oil. The oil is then collected for bottling or storage.

Larger amounts of olive oil are typically stored in holding tanks and containers which can be made of stainless steel or plastic. This is done to prevent contact with light and outside air which can break down the oil even before bottling takes place.

Uses Of Olives

2006-05-23T17:38:00.000+08:00

While the primary original use of olive oil was most likely as a source of dietary fat, other uses for the oil quickly developed. For instance, the oil was also used to make soaps, as a utility oil for lamps and the lubrication of machinery. Olive oil was also used for medicinal, hygiene, and religious reasons. As in ancient civilizations, olive oil continues to be seen as having healing properties. Today, olives are primarily cultivated for cooking oil.

COOKING

The list of culinary uses for Olives and Olive oil is endless and any Mediterranean recipe book will provide a good selection of appetizing dishes. Only olive oil, among all cooking oils, has enough flavor to make it a satisfying replacement for butter and margarine. Olive oil also can be a healthier alternative to butter, margarine, and polyunsaturated oils because it contains mostly monounsaturated fat or "good fat".

Olive oil can be used to fry, deep fry, sauté, season, bake and roast. It may seem pricey to use it to fry foods, but olive oil is four to five times more heat resistant than vegetable oils. That means you can reuse it to fry foods many more times before the oil begins to break down. It can be used in stews, pastas and on salads. When replacing pourable oils with olive oil, simply replace the amount of oil specified in the recipe with the same amount of olive oil. Use the handy conversion chart below to help make the tasty switch from butter and margarine.

Butter/Margarine				Olive Oil
1 teaspoon				3/4 teaspoon
1 tablespoon				2 1/4 teaspoons
2 tablespoons				1 1/2 tablespoon
1/4 cup				3 tablespoons
1/3 cup				1/4 cup
1/2 cup				1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
2/3 cup				1/2 cup
3/4 cup				1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon
1 cup				3/4 cup

TABLE OLIVES

Like olive oil, the uses for table olives in dishes are endless. Table olives are often eaten simply pickled in brine or stuffed with fillings. Thousands of tonnes of olives are consumed each year on pizzas. There are many dozens of table olive varieties, with each variety having its own unique size, shape and taste. Olives are used in anything from baked dishes to martinis.

OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT

Olive Leaf Extract is, as the name implies, derived from the leaves of the olive tree. It is a source of many phytochemicals, primarily oleuropein 20%, which enzymes break down into elenolic acid. Olive Leaf Extract is an antibacterial, antiviral and antiparasitic substance. Today is widely available from pharmacies, health food stores and retail outlets, and is often taken as a pill or tablet.

OLIVE POMACE

This is the waste product usually obtained from olive oil processing plants. It is made of the crushed seeds and solid parts of the olive fruit which is discarded in oil production. Once dried, it makes an excellent burning fuel for furnaces. It is often reused in olive processing plants as fuel to heat water that is used in oil production.

OLIVE WOOD

Also known as Italian Olivewood. Uses: Small turnings, carvings, and inlay work. It has the natural characteristics of a straight grain with a fine texture and the color varies in each piece - alternating white and dark brown streaks. It has good durability and workability, however its finishing qualities are not as good as some of the woods which are more commonly used in the making of furniture. It is also expensive to buy compared to commercially harvested woods.

Different Types of Olives

2006-05-22T17:26:00.000+08:00

Olives no longer come only in a can or jar waiting to be slid onto a child’s fingers or dropped into an awaiting martini. Gourmet olive varieties are widely available and come in an array of flavors.

Here are ten of the more common varieties of olives and a brief description of each.

Green olives with herbs de Provence: This vibrant citrus flavored olive is a good match with fish and in recipes calling for sweet spices. Herbs de Provence is a delightful blend of spices that can be used in every thing from eggs to soufflé.

Nicoises: This earthy rich olive is traditionally used in nicoise salad. It is a small black olive cured in red-wine vinegar.

Mount Athos green with Sicilian herbs: This olive packs a punch, it is flavored with rosemary, garlic, mustard seed, and red pepper flakes. It is an excellent olive for use in bruchetta topping, on salads, and in tapenade.

Mount Athos green stuffed with garlic: This is the classic martini olive stuffed with a clove of garlic. It is pitted then stuffed and perfect for pizzas, snacking, and a modern sophisticated martini.

Mount Athos green olives with sun-dried tomatoes: This rich heavy olive is ideal in salads and for snacking. The intense flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes blends delightfully with the intense flavor of the olive.

Lucques: This olive is ideal for snacking. The pit is still in tact so care must be taken to not swallow the pit. It is a pleasure to chew this meaty light buttery olive.

Kalamatas: This tangy green to black olive is cured in red-wine vinegar and is soft but not mushy. Varieties grown in California are denoted by spelling with a ‘c’ rather than a ‘k’. Kalamatas are wonderful on pizzas, with feta or blended with cream cheese and fresh garlic for a tangy dip.

Alfonsos: This robust winey tasting olive is soft and similar to the kalamata. It is a popular choice in antipasto salads.

Halkidikis: This is a large dried black olive that is mild in flavor and less salty than some of the other varieties. It pairs well with mild sheep’s milk cheeses.

Sun-dried olives: This olive is rich and intense in flavor. It is used in sauces or can be drizzled with extra virgin olive oil for a bold snack.

All about Olives

Facts About Olives

2006-05-21T17:06:00.000+08:00

The graceful olive branch is a symbol of peace, probably because of the slowness of its growth. Its knarled trunk suggests strength and permanence and incites respect. A popular saying has it that an olive tree never dies. It is true that they have been seen to come to life again after having been ravaged by fire.

Olives are native to the Mediterranean region. The history of this fruit goes back almost as far as Western civilization, its development being one of man’s first accomplishments. Evidence from archaeological digs proves that olives were grown in Crete in 2500 B.C. From there, the popularity of the olive spread to Greece, Rome and other Mediterranean districts.

The olive color can vary when ripe from green to copper to black and the shape can be round to oval or elongated with pointed ends. The varieties can vary considerably in size, shape, oil, content, and flavor. Some varieties can be sweet enough to eat after sun drying.

Olives require a long, hot growing season in order for the fruit to ripen properly. If frost hits the blossoms in early spring, the crop is lost. Winters have to be chilly in order for the fruit to set. Hot, dry winds are harmful when blossoms are open and the fruit is setting.

The olive tree is an evergreen that can grow as high as 50 feet. Proper pruning methods can keep the trees around 29 feet. Trees have a graceful, swaying appearance that can be rather appealing. Gnarled branches and the green-gray color of the foliage give the olive tree a distinctly unique appearance.

The olive flowers are small fragrant and cream colored, and are often hidden by the many evergreen leaves. Even though the olive tree is self-pollinating, yields can be improved by planting two varieties. The flowers are wind pollinated.

The foliage of olive trees is feather-shaped and the leaves grow opposite one another. The outer layer of the leaves is rich in tannin, which gives them their distinctive color. These trees can live up to, and beyond, 500 years. They are unyielding in the respect that they will continually spring back if chopped off at ground level. Small tendrils will begin to sprout and if not watched carefully, the olive tree will rejuvenate.

The blossoms of olive trees are a creamy-olive color. They grow on a long stem and are often hidden by foliage. There are two types of blossoms. The first is a perfect flower consisting of both male and female elements. The second is a “staminate; no petals. Blossoms are usually pollinated by the wind, but fruit is more desirable if cross-pollinated with other varieties.

Olive fruit are green pomes and turn a blackish-purple when ripe. Some varieties remain green while others turn coppery brown. Olives vary greatly in flavor, oil content and shape. Shapes differ considerably and can be elongated, oval or round. Raw olives are often bitter and uneatable. Some varieties can be eaten raw once they are sun-dried.

If crops are thinned, olives will grow larger. Thinning must be done immediately after the fruit has set. Crops should be thinned until only two or three olives remain on every 30 centimeters of branch.

Olives that are to remain green are harvested while green, but after they have reached the proper size. After that, they can be picked at any stage, through to ripeness. Ripe olives can bruise easily and have to be handled with care. Mold can be a problem between harvesting and curing.

In Mediterranean regions, olives and olive oil are used daily. Today, there is an increased interest in specialty olive oils, often produced commercially from small groves of trees.

Once olives are cured, they are ready for the table. They make healthy and delicious snacks. Enjoy them on a daily basis to promote good heart health.

Origin & History Of Olives

2006-05-20T16:35:00.000+08:00

Olives have been cultivated since prehistoric times in Asia Minor. From there, they spread all over the world. Today they are commercially produced in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, China, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Angola, South Africa, Uruguay, Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand, and California. Hands down, though, until this day, the Mediterranean area produces the most. Of the some 800 million olive trees growing on earth at this moment. 93 percent are growing in the Mediterranean area.
From the beginning, apparently, the calming and healing properties of its oil have been recognized. Thus the olive branch has long been used as a symbol of peace. Pouring oil on troubled waters--not to mention the dove bringing back a branch of olive as the first vegetation seen by Noah after the Deluge. Jeremiah (11:16) described prosperous Israel as "a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit."
In Greek mythology, Athena gave this luscious drupe to mankind as a gift--and, in gratitude, citizens of Attica were said to have named the city of Athens after her.
In the Mideast, the story is told of Adam suffering from pain and complaining to God. At that, Gabriel descended from heaven with an olive tree, presented it to Adam, and said, "plant it, then pick the fruit and press out its oil. It will cure your pain and all sickness." Indeed, early Mideast civilizations believed it would cure every illness except death. And to this day, many drink half a cup of olive oil before breakfast to keep all systems well lubricated.
One writer observes, "It is quite affecting to observe how much the olive tree is to the country people. Its fruit supplies them with food, medicine and light; its leaves, winter fodder for the goats and sheep; it is their shelter from the heat and its branches and roots supply them with firewood. The olive tree is the peasant's all in all."
The first olive tree was planted in California around 1769 by Franciscan missionaries. In fact, all the "mission olives" grown today in California probably derive from trees grown at the Franciscan mission in San Diego, probably from Mexican seeds. This particular species--and there are some 35 altogether--is especially good for its oil.

The olive tree is so ancient no one knows who first thought of preserving its fruit or pressing it to make oil. Olives were harvested in the Middle East during prehistoric times from trees that grew wild. Along with grape vines, olive trees were the earliest plants ever to be cultivated. The first to grow olives were the Persians, then the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Phoenicians and Greeks. Olives took on religious meaning in ancient Egypt, Greek mythology and the Bible because their oil provided nutrition, light and skin moisture.

Today the Mediterranean produces 90 percent of the world’s olive oil. France’s production is much smaller than that of Spain or Italy, but its oils are known for their superb quality and personalities ranging from soft and floral to vigorous and herbal. Today olive oils are chosen by professional tasters who judge the bouquet, texture and flavour — just like wine. The label "extra virgin" guarantees that the oil has less than 0.8 percent acidity.

Olives

2006-05-19T17:05:00.000+08:00

These evergreen trees can attain a great age--some in the eastern Mediterranan are estimated to be over 2,000 years old. They grow to a height of 20-40 feet and begin to bear fruit sometime between 4 and 8 years old. They bear lanceolate leaves and bloom with little whitish flowers that are wonderfully fragrant. Tennyson talks about Catullus' "olive-silvery Sirmio" in Frater Ave atque Vale.

Scientific Names : Olea Oleaster ; Olea lancifolia ; Olea gallica ; Olea europaea

Olea europaea is a small, ever green tree, averaging 20 feet or more inheight. It has many thin branches with opposite branchlets and shortly-stalked, opposite, lanceolate leaves about 2 1/4 inches long, acute, entire and smooth, pale green above and silvery below. The bark is pale grey and the flowers numerous, small and creamy white in colour.

The dark purple fruit is a drupe about 3/4 inch long, ovoid and often pointed, the fleshy part filled with oil. The thick, bony stone has a blunt keel down one side. It contains a single seed.

Being hardier than the lemon, the Olive may sometimes produce fruit in England. The largest of the varieties under cultivation is produced in Spain, but probably Italy prepares most oil, the annual average being 33 million gallons.

The beautifully-veined wood not only takes a fine polish, but is faintly fragrant, and is much valued for small cabinet-work. It was in olden days carved into statues of gods.

For use as a dessert fruit the unripe olives are steeped in water to reduce their bitterness. Olives à la Picholine are steeped in a solution of lime and wood ashes. They are bottled in an aromatic solution of salt.

In warm countries the bark exudes a substance called Gomme d'Olivier, which was formerly used in medicine as a vulnerary.

The large 'Queen Olives' grown near Cadiz are chiefly exported to the United States; the smaller 'Manzanillo' is principally consumed in Spain and Spanish America.

The trees bear fruit in their second year; in their sixth will repay cultivation, and continue as a source of wealth even when old and hollow, though the crop varies greatly from year to year.

The groves are cut until the beauty of the trees is lost.

The ripe fruits are pressed to extract the oil, the methods varying in the different countries.

Virgin Oil, greenish in tint, is obtained by pressing crushed fruit in coarse bags and skimming the oil from the tubs of water through which it is conducted. The cake left in the bags is broken up, moistened, and repressed. Sometimes the fruit is allowed to reach fermenting point before pressure, the quantity of oil being increased and the quality lessened. The product is called Huile fermentée.

Huile ordinaire is made by expression and mixture with boiling water.

Provence oil is the most valued and the most refined.

Official Olive soap is made from olive oil and sodium hydroxide.

Abalone

2006-05-10T13:30:00.000+08:00

Abalone is a large marine snail with a single shell and a muscular foot. It clings to rocks and grazes on seaweed. Fossils show abalone existed 100 million years ago. Native Americans used their flesh for meat and their iridescent shells for decoration. Divers have overfished abalone off the California coast, but abalone are now being farmed in the waters off California and Hawaii, increasing the supply.

Abalone is the American English variant of the Spanish name Abulón used for various species of shellfish (mollusks) from the Haliotidae family (genus Haliotis). The abalones belong to the large class of gastropods (Gastropoday). There is only one genus in the family Haliotidae, and about four to seven subgenera. The taxonomy is somewhat confused.

The number of species range from about 100 to about 130 species (due to the occurrence of hybrids), characterized by a richly coloured (on the inside—the outside is rough and mostly brown) shell yielding mother-of-pearl. This is also commonly called ear-shell, in Guernsey ormer (Fr. ormier, for oreille de mer), perlemoen in South Africa and pāua in New Zealand.
Abalone is also prevalent in Australian and South African coastal waters and is highly valued. The muscle tissue of this mollusk is considered a delicacy in certain parts of South-East and East Asia, especially in China and Japan.

They may be purchased live, as freshly prepared steaks, canned or frozen. It is also sold in various dried, shredded or powdered forms in parts of Asia. Declining natural stocks are nowadays supplemented by farm raised supplies. However, the law of supply and demand currently dictates that abalone is a relatively expensive shellfish compared with other kinds.

In the wild, abalone eat marine algae in the wild and on some farms. The adults feed on loose pieces drifting with the surge or current. Large brown algae such as giant kelp, bull kelp, feather boa kelp and elk kelp are preferred, although most others may be eaten at various times. For cultured abalone, many farms now use high quality manufactured food, which is healthy, efficient and produces very high quality meat.

Wild abalone tend to stay in one location waiting for food to drift by. However, they will move daily, seasonally or when food becomes scarce for a long period. The color banding on many abalone shells is due to changes in the types of algae eaten. Juvenile abalone graze on rock encrusting coralline algae and on diatoms and bacterial films. As they grow they increasingly rely on drift algae.

Nutritional Value of Abalone

Abalone (raw), 3 oz.(84.9g)

Calories: 89
Protein: 14.5g
Carbohydrate: 5.1g
Total Fat: 0.65g
Fiber: 0.0g
*Excellent source of: Selenium (38mcg)
*Good source of: Magnesium (40mg), Vitamin B12 (0.6mcg), and Vitamin E (3.4 IU)

Abalone farming, to date, has been limited and hampered by the quality and quantity of the macroalgae sources worldwide. Although some abalone farms have successfully fed manufactured food for nearly 25 years, a high quality low cost manufactured food has been a recent development. Many new farms (and some older farms) are now asking Fishtech to design or redesign their equipment and procedures to allow their crop to be grown on 100% manufactured food. The improvement in growth rate and health of the animals and ease of production are truly astounding.

Buddha Jumps Over The Wall

2006-05-09T14:17:00.000+08:00

"Buddha jumps over the wall" (佛跳牆 fó tiào qiáng) is an umbrella term for a type of highly-complex Chinese soup or stew consisting of many ingredients of non-vegetarian origins and requiring one to two days to create. The name reflects the appeal of the soup: it is said to be so enticing that even a vegetarian monk (Buddha) himself could not restrain himself and would sneak out of the monastery (jump over the wall) to steal a taste.

A typical recipe includes many ingredients including quail eggs, bamboo shoots, scallop, abalone, shark fin, chicken, ginseng, mushrooms, and taro. When served in restaurants, the more expensive ingredients are emphasized to justify the lofty price normally charged for this soup.

It was only recently we found out that "Buddha" is a famous Fujian cuisine which costs a bomb. The ingredients list (more than 30 kinds) sounded like a pot-luck of leftovers - shark's fin, sea slug, chicken breast, duck, dried scallop, mushroom, fish maw, squid, sea cucumber, pork tripe, pork leg, minced ham, mutton elbow, winter bamboo shoots, pigeon eggs and abalone. These are seasoned and steamed separately and then put into a clay jar, mixed with cooking wine and put over intense heat followed by low heat. Four or five ounces of liquor is then added while the ingredients are kept simmering for another five minutes. Now you understand why it costs a bomb!

But why the "Buddha jumps over the Wall" name? Our first theory was that the dish was too sin-ful for Buddha that he had to jump over the wall to escape! After further inquiries, we found out that our theory was totally incorrect!

Legend has it that a Fuzhou scholar went picnicking with friends. He had put all the ingredients he had with him in a wine jar, which he heated over a charcoal flame. The tantalizing smell spread all the way to a nearby temple and was so inviting that the monks could not resist and jumped over the wall to partake in the hearty dish. A poem in praise of the delicious dish was rendered, in which one line read: "Even Buddha himself would jump over the wall to taste this dish".

Sharks Fin Soup

2006-05-08T12:57:00.000+08:00

Shark fin soup (Chinese: 魚翅 Yú Chì ) is a dish commonly served in Chinese restaurants as part of a Chinese feast, usually at special occasions such as weddings and banquets as a symbol of wealth and prestige. It was a regional delicacy in the Southern part of China until the late 1980s. The Communist Chinese government denounced shark fin soup as a symbol of elitism but backed off this stance in the late 1980s. Shark fin soup became popular as a way of honoring guests because it was thought that shark's fin increased potency and appetite. The demand has increased exponentially in the last 15 years, and now shark's fin soup can be found in most Chinese Restaurants around the world. Hong Kong has roughly 50 percent of the global trade in shark fins but exports from Singapore and Taiwan are increasing.

Genuine shark fin soup or stew is made with shark fins obtained from any of several shark species. Raw shark fins are processed by first removing the skin, trimming them to shape, and thoroughly drying them. Bleaching with hydrogen peroxide may be employed before drying to make the colour of the sharks fin more appealing. Shark fins are the cartilaginous pectoral and dorsal fins of a shark.

Shark fin typically is cooked for a very long time until the shark fin separates into needles of cartilage that look like clear noodles. The fin itself has no taste, but it absorbs the flavor of the soup broth it is cooked in. Shark fin has little nutritional value but it does contain high levels of mercury.

Sharks, being at the top of the marine food chain, bioconcentrate mercury in their bodies. Mercury, in the form of methylmercury, is evenly distributed in body tissues of fish and thus one finds about the same concentrations in muscle, neural tissue and cartilage. Average size sharks demonstrate mercury concentrations (in muscle) from roughly 0.5 to 2 ug/g (ppm) (Food Additives and Contaminants, Vol. 20, No. 9, September, 2003, pp. 813–818). The mercury concentration in large sharks may reach 5 ppm. The threshold for mercury in seafood, above which fish consumption becomes hazardous, is a hotly debated topic and certainly depends on how much is eaten and how often, but most agree that concern begins at or above 0.1 ppm for pregnant mothers and small children.

Fresh shark fin is rarely used in cuisine, and is almost always used in dry form. Dried shark fin is prepared by first reconstituting in clear meat stock made from either Chinese dried ham or chicken. Fins are then cooked through simmering in a rich stock with similarly rich and high priced ingredients. This is done for no more then an hour in order to preserve the shark fin's texture and shape. It is then served as rich soup or stew, usually as a main course.

Individual shark fin ”needles“ can be described as having a texture somewhere between soft rubber and hard agarose jelly, with the flexibility of the former and the slight brittle "crunch" of the latter. When a whole fin is eaten, the binding tissue combined with the needles softens the needles' otherwise rubbery impact. Shark fin itself does not have much flavour though it may hold a slight fishy fragrance. It is for these reasons that flavourful stocks and ingredients are used to enhance the flavour of shark fin.

Considered a highly prized delicacy, the best shark fin soup can fetch up to US$100 per bowl. However, there are also cheaper shark fins, usually taken from smaller shark species, used for casual dining. The quantities used for each bowl of soup may vary from a few needles of fin rays (typical in a US $150 Chinese feast), to a whole small fin, or even more. The price depends on the size and quality of shark fin used; shark fin is estimated to cost at least US $4.50 per bowl.

Shark fin is the third most prized ingredient of the four treasures of the sea in Chinese cuisine. The others are abalone(which is always the most expensive), sea cucumber (varies in cost), and finally, dried scallops or fish maw.

There is an imitation version are usually sold as cans that may simply be labeled as shark-fin soup (in most cases preceded by the word "imitation" on the product label), and sells for around US $1.50 per bowl. It does not contain shark-fins, but instead is made of mung bean vermicelli shaped to resemble shark fins, though they are nowhere equivalent to genuine shark fin in either texture or color. It is commonly served in chicken broth, with culinary fungus and pork to enhance the texture and taste.

Sharks Fin

2006-05-07T12:04:00.000+08:00

Shark fin as a food was reported in writings of the Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644). It has therefore been known in China for at least a few hundred years. Throughout the ages, the Chinese have considered shark fin one of the eight treasured foods from the sea. The fact that so little is obtained from such a large fish made fins noble and precious, fit for the tables of the emperors. Fins were indeed listed as articles of tribute when officers of coastal regions visited the emperors in the Imperial court. (Yang, Lin and Zhou)

Fins are traditionally served at dinner parties to express the host’s respect for his guests. To this day the practice still holds true in Chinese communities. They are most frequently consumed on auspicious occasions, such as weddings.

The international trade customarily classifies fins into white and black groups. Some traders say that this is a description of the colour of the fins, others that it is a classification by their yield and taste and a third version maintains that shark fins of the white group belong to sharks from shallow waters while the black belong to sharks from deeper waters. The former have a set of three fins, two dorsal and a caudal fin, whereas the latter have a set of four, a pair of pectorals, a dorsal and a caudal fin.

All agreed however that fins of the white group give higher percentage of fin needles and a better flavour. These are more sought after and thus command higher prices. Fins from the black group are inferior in both percentage yield and flavour. The classification is used in the trade the world over but there are other differences in opinion. For instance, the fins of Tiger sharks are considered to be white by one Indian authority and black by another.

According to wildlife conservationists, much of the sharks' fins in the trade are cut from living sharks; this process is called finning. Because shark meat is worth very little, the finless and often still-living sharks are thrown back into the sea to make room for more of the valuable fins. When returned to the ocean, the finless sharks, unable to move, die from suffocation or are eaten by other sharks or animals. Also, many times fishermen who are looking for tuna find the sharks and fin them.

Finning is vigorously opposed by animal welfare groups; both on moral grounds and also because it is purportedly a major cause for the rapid decline of global shark populations, in some cases by 99% over the last 50 years, leading conservation ecologists and fishery experts to predict widespread shark extinction in 10 or 20 years. An estimated 100 million sharks are slaughtered each year for their fins, and the industry is valued at 1.2 billion US dollars; because of the lucrative profits, there are allegations of links to organized crime. They also raise questions on the medical harm from the consumption of high levels of toxic mercury reportedly found in shark fins.

In countries such as Thailand and Singapore, public awareness advertisements on finning have reportedly reduced consumption by 25%. In Hong Kong, the oldest chain of restaurants specializing in shark fin soup has reportedly closed, citing lobbying by the animal rights groups as one of the main reasons.

New laws have been passed to prevent finning; though much of the international waters continue to be unregulated. The United States recently issued a ban on finning, applicable only to US-registered vessels, even in US territorial waters; and shark fins cannot be imported into the USA without entire carcasses. International fishing authorities are in the process of banning shark fishing (and finning) in the Alantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. However shark fishing and finning continues unabated in the Pacific and Indian Ocean.

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Special Dish For Mum

2006-05-06T09:24:00.000+08:00

Mothers must be angels on earth, always at hand to doctor scraped knees, boost dampened spirits, and guide us through the minor setbacks in life. They must be models of inspirations, patient counselors, and sterling examples. They must be everything to everybody.

As children age, they begin to realize the value of a mother's love and the enormous depth of her committment. No relationship we form can ever be as close or profound.
The unconditional love she has for us has been has made each of us feel we are the luckiest people in the world for having her as our mother. So this Mother's Day, why not make her something special and make this Mother's Day be a memorable one. I have some ideas for my mum as well... My mum loves Mangoes. These are some easy stuff to make for your mum:

Mango/chicken Salsa

Mango Muffin

Mango Pudding, topping it up with freshly cut Mango Cubes and Strawberries

On top of that, make her a card. Add in some quotes or poems and tell her how much you love her. Sing her a song and spend more time with her on Mother's Day. I am going to do that!